


Spleen and Ideal

by Silverborle



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: F/M, ginomika
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:47:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24324517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverborle/pseuds/Silverborle
Summary: (The story takes place after First Inspector).
Relationships: Ginoza Nobuchika/Shimotsuki Mika
Comments: 52
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**PART 1**

Mika’s device rang, and she took the call while keeping driving, as a golden-haired woman appeared on the screen.

"What do you think you’re doing?” Frederica point-blank asked, through the communication canal.

"My job”, Mika replied. “How about you let me do it without parasitizing me?”

Her Foreign Affairs counterpart frowned.

"The Aburu case is involving foreign terrorism. It falls under the SAD jurisdiction. You’re interfering with us.”

"You’re the last person who should be lecturing me about meddling with other people’s operations”, Mika dryly declared. “The MWPSB has been following this case since the very beginning. I won’t allow the MOFA to collect the fruits of our labor at our expense.”

"So that’s what this is about?” Frederica said. “Are you trying to make a point, so you can prove you’re a good Sibyl’s guardian and a model employee?”

"I’m trying to bring justice, a concept you should be more familiar with!” Mika retorted with sparkling eyes. “Unlike you, we arrest criminals, we don’t negotiate with them.”

Hanashiro sighed.

"I don’t have time to explain you the underlying geopolitical subtilities of this matter. Anyway, my men are already on the field. Leave it to us. I don’t want you to jeopardize the mission we’ve been planning for weeks.”

"I’m not your subordinate. You’re not in a position to give any order”, Mika riposted.

"It’s not an order, it’s an advice”, Frederica simply stated. “My agents have free rein to get the target. They’ll take every measure needed to do so.”

"Is that a threat?” Shimotsuki said, glancing at her interlocutor on the display.

"As I told you, it’s an advice. Mind your own business and you’ll be fine.”

"I’ll be fine once I’ll be rid of you and your minions!”

And Mika shut down the call.

"That horrible blonde! I can’t stand her anymore!” she exclaimed, her foot vigorously pressing the accelerator, making the police vehicle leap forward.

"Don’t worry chief, we’re gonna show the SAD clowns who they’re messing with”, Irie said from the back of the car. “Isn’t that right, Todoroki?”

The middle-aged Enforcer nodded, stroking the electric baton strapped to his belt.

"A piece of cake.”

"Inspectors Kei and Arata already arrived at the Old Harbor”, Shimotsuki said. “I hope they’ll find the target before the MOFA officers.” She clenched her teeth. “I won’t tolerate to lose this case over them.”

"Relax, chief, I’m sure they’re kicking their asses at this moment”.

* * *

Kougami’s last punch sent Kei to the ground, several meters away from him on the rotten wood of the dock.

"I can’t believe you keep bumping into us”, Ginoza said, readjusting his glove on his bionic hand. “Is it necessary to always get under our feet?”

"Why don’t you remove your metallic arm, so we can actually have a fair fight?” Kei replied, wiping some blood off his lower lip.

Ginoza shrugged.

"This is a grown-up matter. Go back to your toys”, Kougami impassively said.

The Russian inspector was about to retort when he heard squealing tires and howling sirens approaching the wharf.

"Seems like the cavalry has arrived”, Ginoza commented, as he watched his former chief slamming the car of the police van, while the other members of the Unit One followed her on her heels.

"Shinya Kougami and Nobuchika Ginoza, the infernal duo”, Mika spat as she reached them. “You keep proliferating everywhere like vermin that can’t get rid of.”

"A shared pleasure, _Inspector_ ”, Ginoza coldly said.

He looked down on her. “You have some nerve showing up here to interrupt a classified mission.”

"The MWPSB has jurisdiction over domestic cases”, Mika replied.

"Which is precisely why you should let us take it over from here. This is a cross-borders situation, not a matter for national enforcement.”

"The latent criminal we’re about to arrest has disturbed the security of the sovereign state of Japan”, the young woman said, brushing away her curls dishevelled by the sea wind. “It falls under my purview”.

"You’ve heard my chief”, Irie said. “Get out of our way, we have a terrorist to catch”.

Kougami lit a cigarette for answer.

"Inspector Shindo has traced the target; our man is inside”, said Kei, who had got back on his feet, indicating with a nod an outmoded boat berthed in the port.

"Hound 2 and Houd 3, let’s go”, Mika ordered. “Shepherd 2, you stay here to secure the exit. Try not to kill each other with your little comrades”, she added, glaring at the two SAD agents. “I’d be annoyed getting you back in shreds.”

Irie and Todoroki obeyed and advanced towards the decrepit ship. Mika was about to follow their lead when Ginoza stood in her way, as Kougami blocked her subordinates’.

"I thought we were done here”, Mika said, irked.

"Where do you think the terrorist has planned his attacks from?”, Ginoza asked.

"That’s a question I’ll be more than happy to ask him once I handcuff him”, Mika replied. “Now step aside!”

"Haven’t you paid attention to what’s been going on in West Asia for the last two years?” her ex-Enforcer said, his lips twisting into a snarl. “It’s become a nest for crime perpetrators. Domestic violence occurs because of organized crime groups overseas.”

"Then why don’t you go fighting terrorism abroad and become someone else’s burden?” Mika exclaimed.

"Chief, are we allowed to rip those damn officers apart?” Todoroki bellowed. “We’re losing time”.

A silence followed as both sides seized each other up.

"If you don’t move, I’ll consider your comportment as an obstruction of a government-approved investigation, and authorize the use of non-lethal paralyzer weapons against you”, Mika finally threatened.

Ginoza grinned.

"Do you really want to create a political incident?”

"Because you think you’re under diplomatic privilege?“, Irie sneered in turn. “Last time I checked, you still only were some Foreign Affairs buffoons.”

"If our ministry learns that you’ve impeded the operation, it’ll go beyond this little quarrel”, Kougami said, blowing smoke.

"The authorities are gonna request that someone takes the fall if the mission fails”, Ginoza added.

"Well, that’s fine by me”, Mika said. “As long as they request a winner to take it all once we’ve successfully fulfilled our duties.”

"Don’t you understand that all of this exceeds your childish thirst for power?” Ginoza hissed. “Some political outcomes you don’t even have a clue of are on the line!”

"I can’t believe I have to justify myself to someone who used to be nothing but my hunting dog!” she exclaimed, stamping her feet. “Out of my way!”

She pushed him, but he imprisoned her arm with his robotic palm.

"Who do you think you’re dealing with?”, she roared, fuming. “Get your filthy latent criminal’s hands off of me!” 

She freed her arm out of his hold in a swift motion.

"You’ve been warned, Shimotsuki”, Ginoza said, as she walked towards the gateway.

"Why do you care anyway?” she retorted over her shoulder.

She arrived at the entrance of the ship, and acquiesced when Todoroki drew his Dominator, ready to open the metallic door. The Enforcer reached out his hand, but when he tried to turn the door grip, his fingers only met air, piercing a three-dimensional image in front of him.

"What the…”

He waved his hand, and the picture flickered.

"A hologram?” Irie inquired.

Mika turned around and faced the two agents on the dock.

"What did you do? Where is the ship?” she said, pointing an accusatory finger at them.

The ringtone of her watch took her gaze off of them, to fall upon the SAD’s chief.

"I had told you to stay out of it”, Frederica said.

"Where is the target?” Mika raged.

"Somewhere safe. My team has collected it while you spent energy making us loose our time”.

"So your so-called officers only were a decoy to distract our attention from the real ship?” Shimotsuki asked, her cheeks flaming.

Frederica shrugged.

"You know the saying. _You cannot win every time you play_. No hard feeling, Inspector.”

"This is an official attempt of intimidation against the Public Safety Bureau”, Mika declared. “You can be sure I’ll fill a complaint to the appropriate body!”

"We’ve just prevented you from causing a considerable diplomatic row”, Hanashiro severely said. “You should be thanking us.”

Shimotsuki frowned.

"Because a foreign government is involved, isn’t it? The SAD is negotiating with the country this criminal comes from.” She gritted her teeth. "You’ll get information if you hand him over.”

"I’ve always known you were quick on the uptake”, Ginoza smirked.

Mika glowered at him.

"Mrs Hanashiro, you owe me one”, she said, her left hand balling into fist. “This is the last time the MWPSB is turning a blind eye to your department’s despicable manners.”

She switched her device off.

"Let’s go back to the office”, she commanded.

She took one last hatred look at the two agents facing her. “Those _animals_ sicken me”.

"Always a pleasure, _Inspector_ ”.

Mika walked towards the police van while the others followed, several meters beyond her.

"One day, the SAD is gonna burn to the ground, and you’ll be crawling at my feet, begging me for taking you back”, she uttered, brutally opening the door of the car. “And no matter how hard you try, I’ll never…”

A deafening detonation covered her last words, and the cargo crates that were stacked on the dock exploded. The blast blew the young woman within a few feet of the smoldering vehicle, and she fell onto the pier, as flames and debris rained down on her, burying her alive under a pile of heavy metallic rubbles and burning wooden planks.


	2. Chapter 2

**PART 2**

"Chief!”

"Shimotsuki!” 

Ginoza raced towards the burning car as Irie, Todoroki and Kei were on the ground, still impacted by the aftermath of the blast.

"Gino, wait!”, Kougami yelled.

But his teammate had already reached the mountain of wreckages under which Mika was engulfed. He saw a glimpse of her face under a thick smoke that emanated from the debris.

"Shimotsuki!”

She coughed, suffocating.

Irie got back on his feet and rushed over to them.

"Hang in there, chief, we’re gonna get you out of this!”

He reached his hands to take apart the assemblage but Ginoza stopped him.

"Don’t! If we move the wrong fragment, all of the structure is gonna collapse on her”.

"But the pile is on fire, she’s gonna burn alive!”

Another detonation issued from the containers, making them flinch. Kougami reached them in turn.

"Those crates are a ticking bomb”, he said. “It’s gonna blow our brains out if we stay here”.

Flames began to rise at their feet, slowly consuming Mika’s prison of debris. Kougami gravely looked at Ginoza, pointing the pile that ignited with his chin.

"We gotta move fast, or she’s gonna turn into a human torch”.

"Enforcer Irie, leave!”, Mika’s muffled voice ordered.

"Are you out of your mind?” Irie said. “I’m not abandoning you!”

"Another explosion is gonna happen any minute now! I don’t want you to die trying to save me.”

"It’s my job as an Enforcer to keep you safe!”

"And it’s my job as your chief to keep you alive!”

"But…”

"Are you gonna talk back to your superior?” 

Kougami put his hand on Irie’s shoulder.

"If you wanna help, help me stop the fire. It’s gonna buy us some time.”

"You better deal with it in a more intelligent way than earlier”, Irie riposted, backing away. “Hang on chief! I promise we’ll take you out of this!”

Mika coughed in response, as Kougami and Irie jogged towards the edge of the quay.

"I’ve seen a lot of things in my career, but I’d never thought I’d see you risking your life for an Enforcer”, Ginoza said with a hint of a smile.

"If you have time to make fun of me, how about you actually help?” she bitterly replied.

Ginoza rapidly studied the frame of the heap.

"Your legs are trapped under a chunk of metal.”

"You really are a sharp observer”, she said, trying to calm down her excessively rapid heartbeat.

_Three seconds to breathe in; five seconds to breathe out. Just as you’ve been taught at your Inspector training._

She inhaled but it only made her cough.

"Can you move your left arm?” Ginoza asked.

She carefully tried to extricate her arm from a shattered wooden plank. A piece of the edifice fell, making another one crash down on her shoulder and she sank deeper into the pile of rubble.

"Ginoza!”

She couldn’t see him anymore, and she feverishly wriggled her neck as the temperature was becoming unendurable.

"I’m right here!”

She choked, the smoke invading her lungs, blurring her vision.

"I’ve understood which piece needs to be dealt with”, Ginoza’s faraway voice said. “It’s gonna make way and you’ll be able to get out. Do you see the metal piece on your waist?”

She raised her head as much as she could.

"It’s not like my entire body was covered by scrap!”

"The yellowish one.”

"Yes, I can see it.”

"It’s the core of the structure, it bears all of its weight. You have to make sure it doesn’t move one inch, or everything is gonna crumble”.

Mika blanched.

_Three seconds to breathe in; five seconds to breathe out. Never give way to panic, or your Psycho-Pass is going to cloud, that’s the first lesson to remember._

"How am I gonna get out of here if I’m precisely under the foundation of the pile?” she asked, trying to control the trembles in her voice.

"You have to use another piece to switch your hips with. Can you see something that’d do the job?” 

Her hands frenetically palpated the surfaces within reach. 

"I don’t see anything”, she exclaimed, unable to conceal the despair of her tone.

"Stay calm”, Ginoza said. “Keep searching”.

She obeyed, and eventually, she felt a piece that could fit.

"I think I’ve found something!”, she hoarsely said, her mouth turning dry.

An explosive detonated nearby, making the assemblage above her dangerously vacillate.

"We can’t stop the fire!” Kougami shouted in the distance.

She could tell. She was dripping in sweat as the temperature kept growing hotter. Dizzy, she spluttered, asphyxiated, and her eyes began to close.

"Mika, stay with me!”, Ginoza ordered. “Focus on the piece!”.

Forcing herself to fight her vertiginous state, she tried to grab the metallic substitute for her waist. She wrapped her fingers around it but it was boiling hot, and she screamed in pain as her scalded hand blistered.

"It’s too hot”, she said, tears running down her cheeks, clearing their ways through the dust and blood caking her face.

Ginoza removed his glove, digging his arm down the mass of junk in combustion.

"Take this!”

The glove fell on her stomach, and she amorphously slipped her fingers inside. It was way too large for her, but at least it would protect her from the heat. She picked up the piece, and manoeuvred it under the cornerstone of the structure, while she lifted her hips to switch them with it.

"I… I think I did it”, she said.

"Great. Now, you have to free your legs!”

"I can’t…” she feebly mumbled, as she felt herself passing out.

Was it how she was going to die? She had read somewhere that even though burning alive was one of the most painful deaths, the victims were actually killed because of the carbone monoxide they inhaled before catching fire. 

"Mika, concentrate! The hard part is over!”

But she didn’t answer. She had fainted.

"Mika, wake up!”

"Gino, we have to leave, the next explosion is gonna blow us all”, Kougami said. “We can’t do anything for her now.”

"I’m not gonna let her die in here!”

He removed his vest as Kougami grabbed his arm.

"You’re just gonna burn to death if you don’t take cover!”

But Ginoza wasn’t listening anymore. He proceeded to dig into the now ablaze pile of scraps, burning his skin as he excavated deeper and deeper.

"Mika!”

_Don’t die on me._

He removed something that induced an inflow of air, and a puff of smoke sprang from the rubbles, blinding him. Coughing, he sightlessly pursued to disassemble the heap of junk, and at some point, his artificial hand found the inspector’s throat. Her jugular palpitated under his fingers, like a delicate butterfly wing. He hastily pulled the massive portion under which her legs were stuck, freeing her from the deadly load, and his other arm wrapped her waist. Panting, he drew her towards him just before the structure collapsed, releasing clouds of smoke, as he buried her head in his neck, covering her with his body to protect her from the last outburst.


	3. Chapter 3

**PART 3**

_One month later_

"You wanted to see me?” Ginoza said, entering Frederica Hanashino’s office.

His chief invited him to sit.

"It’s about the Aburu case. There’s been some news”.

"I’ve heard. Rumor has it the terrorist organization is operating from Oskijan now.”

Hanashiro clickety-clacked on her keyboard, and several pictures appeared on the screen.

"Oskijan has been a fragile state for over a decade”, she said. “We suspect its government to secretly supply the Aburu crime group with money and weapons.”

She zoomed in on a picture.

"The bombs that exploded during the Old Harbor incident were the same as the ones used by the Oskijan authorities throughout the Diamond war, seven years ago. Same structure, same pattern. It’s quite odd, you’ll agree.”

"It could be a setup, though”, Ginoza remarked. “To make the Japanese government think that Oskijan is the enemy. To deteriorate the bilateral relations between the two countries.”

"That’s what we thought at first. But one of our informers on the field reported that a new governance took place in murky circumstances, two weeks ago. He was worried his cover had been blown, and asked for a withdrawal process. Now, we can’t reach him anymore.”

"Is he dead?”

"We don’t know. And the Oskijan government hasn’t officially introduced another administration. There’s definitely something fishy there.”

Frederica sighed.

"We are currently undertaking negotiations with the Oskijan representatives to transfer the man we’ve arrested. They promised to give us information about the Aburu organization in exchange. However, if they actually fight alongside with the terrorist group…”

"Then their information doesn’t worth anything”, Ginoza ended.

"Right. Not to mention we’ll lose a precious bargaining chip in the process.”

She readjusted a lock of hair behind her ear.

"The MOFA, in accordance with the MWPSB, has decided to launch an oversea investigation to determine if Oskijan is a partner we can trust, or an enemy to take down”, she continued. “You’ve been designated with Mister Sugo and Mister Kougami to clear that out. It’s an off-the-record operation, that goes without saying. Officially, you’ll just be there to arrange the terms of the terrorist’s transfer to our interlocutors.”

"Why is the Public Safety Bureau involved?” Ginoza frowned.

"They’ve been investigating the case for a long time. They think the Aburu group is trying to import terrorism by the indoctrination of recruits on the national territory.”

"So the CID is gonna take part in the operation, huh?”

"Indeed. And that’s partly why I’ve asked you to come.”

Frederica clicked on her device, and her office’s door closed.

"I’ve read the report of the Old Harbor event”, she said. “Kougami stated that you put your life at stake to save the Division One chief’s.”

"Is that a problem?”

Hanashino peered at him.

"You tell me. Did you consciously act considering there was a chance of making it out alive? Or was it more an impulsive kamikaze mission?”

"I don’t quite follow”, Ginoza said. “Are you implying I shouldn’t have tried to rescue my former chief while I could?”

"Of course not. By the way, she’s probably still sore over _you_ snatching her away from the flames. I’m sure she’d rather burn alive than owe you her life.”

Hanashino smiled.

"I’m concerned though”, she continued, her smile fading away. “In his statement, Kougami said he’d never seen you acting that recklessly.”

"That’s nervy of him”, Ginoza scoffed.

"That’s exactly the point”, his boss curtly replied. “If he considered it was worth reporting, then it says a lot about your behavior that day”.

Ginoza clicked his tongue.

"I need to know that you won’t endanger your life or your colleagues’ like you did during this incident”, she resumed. “It’s a miracle nobody got hurt.”

"You want me to step aside and watch the others get killed, doing nothing?”

"I want you to answer this question: is Mika Shimotsuki’s presence on the forthcoming operation a problem?”

Ginoza hesitated.

"No.”

"Are you sure? Because if you have the slightest doubt, I can…”

"It’s not”, Ginoza firmly cut. “Her presence won’t cloud my judgement. I can assure you.”

Frederica seized him up for a few seconds.

"Alright then”, she finally shrugged.

Ginoza stood.

"The Public Safety Bureau doesn’t know about us working undercover”, Frederica said, while he walked towards the door. “They’re unaware of our lost agent in the field, and they believe we’re only sending you to negotiate an exchange of criminal intelligence information. You’ve got to make sure they’ll never suspect anything.”

"Roger that.”

* * *

The aircraft landed at the new Loplua airport. A half-long-haired man came to salute them as they got off.

"I’m Tesfin”, he said, turning a translator on. “Welcome to Oskijan”.

"Shimotsuki Mika, I’m an Inspector of the Public Safety Bureau”, the young woman said, noticing Tesfin’s cyborg prothesis leg in a rapid glance. “This is my Enforcer Kisaragi Mao.”

"Kougami Shinya, Ginoza Nobuchika and Sugo Teppei, from the Foreign Affairs department”, one of the SAD agent soberly said.

"It’s a pleasure to meet the Japanese delegation. The Chancellor couldn’t make it in time, so he sent me to pick you up. He is very sorry for the inconvenience, and hopes to make it up to you at dinner tonight.”

"Sure”.

They got into an armored vehicle that began to run. 

"The South of the country has fallen prey to the Aburu terrorist group”, Tesfin explained, as they alternatively passed through ghost cities and tropical landscapes, illuminated by the sunset light. “They’ve organized themselves into guerrillas, and they’re hiding in the rainforest like rats. When our soldiers enter the jungle to track them down, they never come out again. When we finally manage to get rid of one camp, two others re-emerge somewhere else.” He sighed. “We’re just getting bogged down in an irregular warfare.”

"It reminds me of the Vietnam War, in the old days”, Mika commented.

Ginoza raised a curious eyebrow.

"What?”, she said on the defensive, catching his expression.

"I’m just surprised you know about it.”

"That’s not the kind of stuff the noble Oso Academy usually teaches its chaste students”, Kougami added, his lips turning into a smile.

Mika’s face darkened at the mention of her former school, and she looked away, her mind drifting towards her late friend Kagami, murdered by one of Makishima’s disciple.

How dared this insensitive SAD officer bring that up, knowing the devastating outcomes this case had on her? Such a heartless person surely deserved having his best friend killed by this Makishima maniac. At least more than she did.

 _Pull yourself together_. _You shouldn’t be thinking like that, it’s gonna cloud your hue._

She took her eyes off of the window, meeting for an imperceptible second Ginoza’s gaze, before looking back at Tesfin.

"Any available help is welcomed”, Tesfin, who hadn’t noticed her pang of melancholy, continued. “If you deliver us the terrorist you’ve captured, we’d gladly be providing all of our available information about the Aburu organization, so we can fight side by side against those criminals.”

"Why don’t you henceforth share your information with us, instead of waiting for the transfer of the terrorist?” Sugo asked. “You’ve said it, you’re outnumbered. You don’t really have the luxury of time, do you?”

Mika gave him a stink eye, but Tesfin didn’t seem to mind Sugo’s impertinence.

"We have to be certain this information isn’t gonna turn against us. After all, Japan and Oskijan are not official allies. I’m sure you understand.”

He scratched his neck with his index.

"Besides”, he resumed, “From what I’ve heard, terrorism is gaining ground in Asia, and has already reached Tokyo. Seems like you don’t really have the luxury of time any more than us.”

“It's a matter of perspective”, Ginoza replied. “Unlike Oskijan, Japan actually has the means to prevent terrorist actions on its territory.”

"Is that so? Then how come the man you’ve arrested managed to introduce explosives without getting caught?”

“But we caught him”, Sugo said. “That’s the whole point of our visit, and of the upcoming deal negotiations.”

"The question being: why is the Oskijan government so desperate to get him back?" Ginoza added.

“Enough”, Mika ordered.

Tesfin smiled.

“You’re right, Inspector. We shouldn’t be discussing politics in the back of a car. The diner with the Chancellor shall be way more suitable for this.”

He looked through the window.

“Ah, we’re finally arriving”.

"Really?” Kisaragi said, skeptical. “We’re in the middle of the jungle.”

There was some truth to it. Even though their vehicle stopped in front of an old diplomatic building, its flags lazily flying in the soft wind, all of the surrounding area was immersed in a thick tropical vegetation.

"This is an annex of the Chancery’s headquarters”, Tesfin said, as they came down the car. “This is where the government is hosting its foreign delegations.”

"Guess it hasn’t been very crowded lately”, Kougami observed, lighting a cigarette. “For all I know, Oskijan hasn’t really bothered discussing with other countries for the past decade.”

His host grinned.

"One might say it’s quite bold for an isolationist country’s representative to say that”, he returned. “By the way, this is a smoke free area. I’m afraid you’ll have to give me that cigarette.”

Kougami successively stared at him and at his open hand, as an uncomfortable silence settled in. After a few seconds, he finally crashed his cigarette down, before throwing more than putting it inside Tesfin’s palm.

"Good. Now let me take you to your quarters”, Tefsin said, guiding them inside the old building. “You must be exhausted after this long journey.”

Kougami had been right; no one had stayed there recently, judging by the peeling paint on the ceiling and the old-fashioned ornaments on the wall. Mika mechanically tried to switch her device on, but it showed no signal, as if they were in an abandoned zone.

 _So, we can’t use the Dominators, nor communicate in here,_ she thought.

Five men appeared at the other side of the entrance hall, dressed as officers. They bowed down as a sign of respect, one of them staring at Kougami for an overlong second.

"They are your servitors during your stay here”, Tesfin said. “If you need anything, you’ll just have to ask them, and they’ll be more than pleased to help you. Gentlemen, please escort our guests to their respective rooms”, he ordered.

The five men nodded.

"Oh, just one last thing”, Tesfin added. “While you’re here, you may not leave the building without supervision.”

"Why not?” Ginoza frowned.

"We don’t want to risk getting you lost in the lush nature of the region, invaded by terrorist groups. I’m sure you understand.”

"A nice golden cage”, Kougami commented.

Tesfin shrugged.

"It’s just a standard security measure. Is it a problem?”

"It’s not!” Mika said, hostilely staring at her teammates. “Please forgive my colleagues’ serious lack of good manners; it’s been a long time since they’ve been out”.


	4. Chapter 4

**PART 4**

It was late in the night, and Ginoza’s mind was playing back the events of the evening, trying to unscramble the mystery of this whole situation.

The Chancellor couldn’t have made it for diner, because of a so-called last-minute emergency preventing him from coming over.

_Bullshit._

All of this was a vulgar ambush. The Chancellor wasn’t going to meet with them. If there was a Chancellor at all.

He stood and went to the window.

_Sealed of course._

He knew that one of those alleged servitors was outside his room, making sure he wouldn’t get out of it, as his teammates were receiving the same treatment.

'A standard security measure'. 

_Oskijan surely has the sense of hospitality._

He deeply regretted to be deprived of any means of communication, preventing him from reaching Kougami or Sugo. Or Hanashiro, needless to say.

He sighed, as a soft rattle on the wall tore him away from his considerations. He firstly thought it was a random noise, like a typical cracking sound of an ancient building, but the more he listened, the more it seemed to have a pattern. One short tap, one longer, another short. His eyes narrowed as he translated the sounds into letters, using the Morse international code he’d learned when he’d joined the Foreign Affairs Department.

K-O-U-G-A….

He smiled.

 _Seems like I’m not the only one who needs to interact_ , he though, picturing his friend like a restless caged lion, while he proceeded to knock on his own wall in turn.

G-I-N-O-Z-A

A short silence followed, but the tapping on the other side resumed, and a coded dialogue began.

_“Something weird. Need to leave ASAP. Trap.”_

_“Where Sugo?”_

_“Don’t know. PSB?”_

_“Don’t know.”_

Ginoza frowned. It was one thing trying to escape a guarded diplomatic building. It was another thing to gather the runaways of the said guarded diplomatic building, without knowing their positions.

_“How we get out? Exit dead”._

_“Window. Meet outside. Take gun”._

_“Roger_.”

Ginoza opened his suitcase, pulling out a Glöck 17 that he slipped under his belt. If the SAD agents were allowed to carry firearms, he hoped he wouldn’t need to actually use it.

He went back to the window, and examined its frame. It was old, and with a little bit of dexterity, he could effortlessly remove the glass. He scratched the rubber surrounding the pane, and yanked it out, allowing him to take down the screen. Breathing in the chilly air of the night, he got out on the balcony, as Kougami followed suit from his own room a few seconds later.

“We have to get to the others”, Ginoza said. “This is nothing but a political masquerade.”

“Couldn’t be shadier, indeed”, Kougami somberly acquiesced. “By the way, I’m sure I’ve met one of Tesfin’s henchmen before.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. He just looks familiar”.

“It could be during your journey in East Asia”.

Kougami’s gaze drifted away.

“Well, that’d be inauspicious. I’ve made more enemies than friends back then.”

"One of your many talents, isn't it?", Ginoza said, bending over the balcony. “It looks like it’s a military parking lot down there”, he continued, noticing trucks and reconnaissance vehicles pulled over the edge of the forest.

“That’s convenient. If we’re to escape, I’d rather have a car to drive through the jungle.”

“We still need to find a way to get down, though”, Ginoza remarked. “We’re about sixty feet from the ground”.

Kougami’s lips twisted into a grin.

“We’re getting a bit old to take a big jump without a net, aren't we?”

He studied the wall façade.

“From your balcony, you could get to the next room”, he indicated. “Hopefully, it’ll be one of us.”

Ginoza looked up.

“What if it’s not?”

“Then I’ll back you up from inside. Once I’ll get rid of those damn hired guns at our doors, I’ll meet you upstairs.”

“Aren’t you getting a bit old to take two men down all by yourself?”

Kougami had a brief laugh.

“My, Gino, who’d have thought you could be good at sarcasm?”, he said, before disappearing into his room. “Try not to break your neck.”

* * *

After tightening his ponytail, Ginoza began to ascend the old building. Defying gravity with a disconcerting easiness for a man of his size, he rapidly reached the next balcony and climbed over it in a silent, feline-like manner. He lowered on the ground, peering at the room plunged into darkness before removing the latex around the window, using the same technique as before. Once opened, he got inside.

Someone was sleeping in the bed. He could tell it was a woman, as he approached, but he wasn’t able to sufficiently distinguish her silhouette to figure out if it was Shimotsuki, Kisaragi or someone else. He reached his fingers out, anticipating to muffle her, when the woman brutally spinned around. She blocked his hand with her elbow, and sprayed tear-gas into his face.

He grunted in pain as he lost his eyesight. She kicked him in the ribs, sending him to the floor, and he blindly tried to find something to hold onto to get back on his feet, as he felt the rays of a flashlight being pointed at him.

“Ginoza?”, a puzzled voice said.

“Shimotsuki?”

“What on earth are you doing here?”

He rubbed his irritated eyes.

“I came to get you; we need to leave right now”, he said, blinking to restore his vision.

“Are you out of your mind?”

He stood, facing the young woman, his blurry gaze slightly lingering on her lace nightgown.

“Where is Kisaragi?”, he asked.

“I… I don’t know… Why?”

Ginoza hurried to the door, and pressed his ear against it.

“Would you care to explain what’s going on?”, Mika asked, irked.

“Shh, be quiet”, he said, putting a finger on his lips to silence her.

“Wh.. How dare you?” she vociferated. “You’re breaking into my room, in the middle of the night, and you…”

“Mika, you really need to keep it down.”

A loud blow echoed in the hallway, followed by dull sound, as if someone had fallen onto the ground. Ginoza opened the door, to meet Kougami who just had knocked-out one of Tesfin’s men, lying on the parquet.

“Looks like I’m not too rusty after all”, the SAD agent smirked.

He searched the inert body on the floor.

“What kind of attendant carries a Berretta?”, he said, picking up a semi-automatic pistol off his opponent’s jacket, before handing it over to his colleague. “Here, you could use an extra gun.”

“Hawk One is inside”, Ginoza said, retrieving the weapon. “Hawk Two and Eagle Three are still missing”.

Kougami frowned.

“I’m gonna get ‘em. Take Hawk One outside, on the parking lot. Let’s meet there in ten.”

“What if you don’t make it in time?”

“Then leave.”

Ginoza nodded.

He closed the door, and faced a fuming Mika.

“You better have a good explanation for all of this”, she threatened, placing her hands on her hips.

“Get dressed. We gotta move.”

“Not before you’re telling me what’s happening!”

“We’ve been ambushed. All of this diplomatic shitshow is just a setup we’ve jumped into like beginners”, Ginoza said, quickly press-checking his gun.

“What makes you think of that?”

“Look at this place. We’re locked inside our rooms. This building is completely abandoned. No administrative staff, no personnel… only those so-called servitors, who look more like mercenaries than valets.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You’re being totally paranoid.”

“Don’t you find it odd? This man, Tefsin, never told us what was his role in the government. When you think about it, we followed him at the airport, thinking he was coming to pick us up, but he could have been sent by anyone. In the car, he…”

Ginoza stopped all at once, his eyes widening.

“Of course”, he mumbled. “How did I miss this?”

“What?”

“Do you remember our discussion in the car? Tesfin wondered how the terrorist we arrested had _introduced_ explosives on the Japanese territory without getting caught.”

Mika shook her head in pure confusion.

“And?”

“He didn’t say _fabricated_ , or _built,_ or anything that’d imply a manufacturing from inside the country. Which means he knew the bombs had been imported. He knew they had been made in Oskijan.”

Ginoza stroked his chin, pensive.

“And if he knew”, he continued, “it means that either the government supports the Aburu organization, or Tesfin himself is a terrorist.”

“Are you even listening to yourself? That’s insane!”

“Mika, think! The Chancellor never came to meet us, even though we’re the quickest way to dismantle the terrorist group.”

“Because he had a last-minute crisis to deal with!”

“Please, don’t tell me you believe this half-assed excuse”, Ginoza taunted. “In his position, if I really wanted to take Aburu down, I wouldn’t lose any minute.”

“But you’re not in his position, that’s the thing”, she dryly said. “And it’s precisely because of this type of reasoning that you’ve turned into a latent criminal. Don’t drag me down your path”, she spat her last words.

He came closer, and she unconsciously took a step back.

“That’s right. I’m a latent criminal. I can hunt down the others of my kind”, he said, towering her. “And I’m telling you that if you'd read Tesfin with a Dominator, you’d see that _indeed_ , he’s one of my kind.”

His words made some sense, and as much as she hated to admit it, she found nothing to respond.

“So, what’s your plan?” she finally surrendered.

“We leave this bloody place, and we figure out what’s happening. Now, get some clothes on. Unless you wanna go through the jungle in your nightie.”

She glared at him, her eyes sparkling with anger.

“Turn around, then!”

He obeyed, sighing.

“Just so you know, you’re the worst intruder ever”, she said, slipping in navy blue cargo pants. “I bet the entire building heard you breaking in.”

“Do you have a gun?”

“Of course not, why would I? I’ve got my Dominator.”

“It’s gonna be handy in the forest, with no communication with Sibyl”, Ginoza ironically said, as she finished tying her shoelace.

He faced her, and gave her the Beretta.

“Do you know how to use it?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“I mean, have you ever used a real gun before?”

She looked down.

“I followed theoretical training before joining the CID.”

“So, you haven’t.”

“It’s not too late to change”, she replied, her hand tightening around the pistol grip. “Would you like to be my first target?”

“Why do I care, anyway?”, he exasperatedly sighed, opening the door. “Let’s get out of here”.

He got outside, but froze, and she bumped into him.

“What now?”

“The mercenary. The one Kougami knocked-out”, he said.

“What about him?”

“Well, you can see he’s not lying on the floor anymore”.

The thumping of an automatic gunfire made them both look at the end of the corridor, as two men showed up.

“Over there!”, one guard shouted, racing in the hallway.

“Back inside!”, Ginoza exclaimed, shoving Mika into the room before locking the door behind them.

They ran to the window and got on the balcony.

“Let’s get down!”, Mika said, stepping over the balustrade.

Ginoza was about to follow her example when their huntsmen opened fire from the corridor, drilling hundreds of holes in the wooden door.

“I’m afraid we gotta move faster”, the SAD agent commented, rolling his left sleeve up, opening a small compartment on his bionic arm.

He pulled a wire cable out of it that he secured onto the railings.

“You’re not considering rappelling down, are you?”, Mika said.

Ginoza’s human arm wrapped her waist, and she instinctively grabbed his shoulders to maintain her balance while the door burst into pieces and the mercenaries came inside, rushing towards them.

“Hold tight”.

He jumped into the void, taking her down with him as the metal wire speedily unrolled.

* * *

They hurtled down the building, Ginoza’s glove tearing apart as he held onto the cable to control their pace. At a few meters away from the ground, he pressed it tighter, slowing the descent, smoothing their landing in the middle of the military vehicles.

He removed the wire from his artificial bicep under Mika’s enthralled gaze.

“I didn’t know you had features on it!”, she gushed.

“The medical team implanted an upgraded version, after I lost the previous one in the mountains", he said, amused by her enthusiastic expression. "A kind of a souvenir of the experimental prison.”

“That’s brilliant.”

He interrogatively tilted his head, the line of his lips curling up into a smirk.

“Brilliant, huh?”

“Well, that's a figure of speech!”

A fire shot reminded them of the guards on the above balcony, and they took shelter behind a military van.

“Seems like our two ‘servitors’ turn out to be agile snipers”, Ginoza commented, looking at them through the rearview mirror. “And we need to bypass the truck if we want to get in the forest”.

“I could run one way to create a diversion, while you take them down”, Mika said. “After all, only one of them is armed since I’ve got that.” She showed her Berretta.

Ginoza stared at her.

“You surely have changed since I left the PSB”.

“Are you in or not?”

“Yes. Be careful.”

She knelt down, her piercing eyes rapidly scanning the surroundings to fall upon another van within reach, forty feet away. She breathed in, and started to sprint, as the shooter above opened fire. Ginoza stood out and aimed at him, while Mika slipped in below the vehicle, avoiding in extremis a bullet that got into the ground where her head had been a nanosecond before. Ginoza shot, but missed, and the guard changed the direction of his gun, pointing at him in turn. The mercenary was about to pull the trigger when he suddenly paralyzed, a stain of blood widening on his chest where he just had been shot.

Ginoza turned around to look at Mika, still under the van, who fired downed at the second mercenary by another assured muzzle flash.

The two bodies fell over the balustrade, before crashing several meters below.

“Are you sure you’ve never shot before?”, Ginoza said, as Mika extirpated herself from the underside of the car. “That was impressive.”

She gave him a hint of a smile.

“Impressive, _huh?_ ”

“Don’t flatter yourself. That's just a figure of speech.”

She was about to reply when Sugo got out of the building.

“Those damn mercenaries have called some back up”, he said, rejoining them. “I managed to escape, but Eagle Two and Hawk Three are still inside.”

“Should we go help them?”, Mika inquired.

“They’re at least twenty men back there”, Sugo said.

Ginoza frowned.

“Kougami told us to leave if he couldn’t make it in time. Let’s go.”

He opened the door of a light utility vehicle, followed by Sugo, who took the passenger seat.

Mika hesitated as Ginoza extended his hand, inviting her to get in.

“There’s also Kisaragi”, she said.

“Trust me, she’s got a better shot to get through this if she’s with Kougami than if she’s with anyone of us.”

“The only way to help them is to get away”, Sugo added. “We’ll back them up later, once we've warned the MOFA and the PSB about this mess.”

“If they don’t end up killed in the meantime”, she curtly remarked.

“All the more reason to hurry”, Ginoza ended.

Mika nodded, enclosing his fingers with her own, and got in the jeep that ran into the jungle, disappearing among the gigantic trees.

* * *

“I can’t run anymore”, Kisaragi said, falling on the ground, pressing a hand on her bleeding rib.

Kougami blindly shot behind him to slow down the guards coming after them, before kneeling next to the young woman.

“We’re almost there”, he said. “The exit’s two floors below us”.

Kisaragi raised her head to meet his gaze.

“You should leave. Find my chief and your colleagues. I’m only slowing you down.”

“That’s not happening”, he firmly said.

He helped her standing up, carrying more than supporting her with one shoulder, and he dragged her down the staircase.

They were finally arriving at the entrance hall when a mercenary appeared before them, blocking their way.

“Shinya Kougami”, the man said, raising a sharpened sabre in the air. “Here we meet again.”

Still carrying Kisaragi, Kougami attempted to draw his gun, but the mysterious soldier hit his hand with the flat side of his blade, making the agent drop his weapon.

“Who are you?” Kougami hissed, as a dozen of heavily armed men surrounded them.

The man smirked.

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me. After all, I’m the reason you’re still alive.”


	5. Chapter 5

**PART 5**

“Where are we going?”, Mika asked, as their jeep ran into the jungle. “There’s no signal, we can’t geolocate the area.”

Ginoza smiled. “How do you think people did in the old ages?”, he said, looking at her in the central mirror.

“They used maps. But unless I’m mistaken, we don’t have one.”

“Tesfin told us that the south of the country was under terrorists’ hands”, Sugo said. “If we want to reach a safe zone, we have to go north. On the basis that what he said was true, though.”, he added.

“But we need to know where we are in the first place, don’t we?”, Mika replied.

“Not necessarily”, Sugo said. “We can use a compass.”

“Do you have one?”

“Everyone here has one, yourself included”, Ginoza said. “It’s a basic device on your watch.”

“Aren’t you listening? I’m telling you there’s no signal, I can’t use my watch!”, she said, irritated.

Sugo had a brief laugh. “You don’t need a wireless network to use a compass”, he said, turning his head around to look at her.

“It aligns with the Earth’s magnetic field”, Ginoza continued. “You can try if you want.”

Mika turned her device on, and indeed, a small needle appeared in front of her, spinning around for a few seconds before stabilizing.

“So, Inspector, are we going in the right direction?”

“Well… I guess so… How did you know we were driving north?”

Ginoza waved his wrist, exhibiting his own watch. “You’ll excuse me, I haven’t waited for you to become familiar with the notion of cardinal points to find my route”, he smirked.

“You could’ve said it from the very beginning!”, Mika said, annoyed. She pouted at their amused expressions. “By the way, why did you refer to me as ‘Hawk’ earlier?”

“It’s a code name.”

“I had figured out, thank you”, she said, scathing. “But why ‘Hawk’? It’s a really stupid name.”

“It could have been worse, trust me. If I recall, Kougami suggested ‘Tarantula’”.

Mika gasped out of anger. “I guess it was it too ordinary for the _elite_ agents of the SAD to use our real names!”

“Said the Inspector who mentions her Enforcers as 'Hounds'”, Sugo commented.

“Is it why you call yourselves ‘Eagles’ now?”, she retorted. “To overcome your inferiority complex from back in the day when you worked with me?”

“I’m glad to know we worked _with_ and not _for_ you”, Ginoza smiled. “There’s definitely been progress”, he added, winking at her in the mirror.

She leaned backward on her seat, vexed, crossing her arms onto her chest, and looked through the window at the rainforest. Even though it was sunrise, the dense vegetation prevented the light from coming through the trees, and they were blindly advancing in the dark, threatening jungle. _Great. As if knowing that terrorist groups where hiding somewhere in the wilderness wasn’t worrisome enough._ Her hand went to her pocket to find her anti-stress pills, but she realized she hadn’t taken them in her precipitously retreat. She blanched. How was she gonna get through this journey without her medical care? _Stay calm. Three seconds to breathe in; five seconds to breathe out._

She noticed they were slowing down, and she straightened up. “Why are you stopping?”

“We can’t go on anymore”, Ginoza indicated, turning the engine off. “There’s a fallen trunk in the middle of the road.”

“Probably because of the thunder. The monsoon can be dreadful in this country”, Sugo said, as they got off the vehicle.

They approached the fallen tree and examined its corpse. “It’s too heavy to move it.”

“Are you saying we have to go by foot?”, Mika asked.

“Any better idea?”

“It’s weird, the trunk shouldn’t have fallen this way”, Sugo frowned. “It’s too perpendicular to the road. Seems like it has been placed there.”

Something came from the bushes and rolled down at their feet.

“Back off!” Ginoza shouted, as a thick purple smoke emanated from the grenade.

They ran towards the truck, but the gas had already been in contact with their eyes and noses, spreading into their immune systems. Coughing, Mika fell on the ground, soon followed by her teammates. She heard footsteps coming over, and then she blacked out.

* * *

“Seems like they’re waking up”, a hoarse voice said.

“One of them is still stunned, though”, a softer voice replied.

“But the girl is definitely emerging from her sleep”.

“Impressive, for her size.”

Mika opened her eyes, that fell onto a tall man with silky raven hair. She was inside what looked like a military tent, Ginoza and Sugo sitting next to her, their hands tied behind their backs.

The raven-haired man knelt beside her.

“Who are you?”, she defiantly said.

“We ask the questions here.”

She looked up at the man who had spoken, a heavy soldier holding a machine gun.

“Easy, Protik”, Raven-haired told his companion over his shoulder.

He looked back at her. “My name is Shourav. I manage this camp, and this stubborn bastard over there is Protik.”

“What do you want from us?”

“Haven’t you heard? Shut up!”, Protik barked.

“We can’t answer your questions if you want us to shut up”, Ginoza dryly said.

Protik gritted his teeth, raising his firearm. “Shourav, it’s a waste of time, they’re with Aburu”, he grunted.

The three prisoners briefly looked at each other.

“Hang on, what do you mean when you say we’re with Aburu?”, Sugo frowned.

“We’re not terrorists, if that’s your point”, Ginoza added.

Shourav frowned. “How come you’re driving a military jeep that belongs to the Aburu organization?”

“We were detained by their men. We escaped, and stole one of their vehicles.”

Protik scoffed. “That’s impossible. No one escapes from Tesfin and his men.”

“Well, we did. We came in Oskijan to fight the Aburu organization before it gets to Japan”, Sugo said. “Above all, we came to understand what the hell was going on in this country”.

“Who sent you?”

“Our own country.”

“You mean the Japanese authorities?”

“That’s right. Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, how about you tell us who you are?”

Shourav and Protik shared a glance.

“So, tell me. Have you been sent by Mrs Hanashiro?”

A silence followed his words.

“You’re the undercover agent who lost communication with the MOFA.”, Ginoza deduced.

“What are you talking about?”, Mika asked.

Shourav turned his face to her. “You’re not SAD, are you?”

“Thank God, no”, she said, crinkling her nose with contempt. “I’m with the Public Safety Bureau. What about you working for Hanashiro?”

“I worked as Tesfin’s right-hand man, when Hanashiro recruited me”, Shourav explained. “I began to give the Foreign Affairs Department information about him”.

“Who is he?”

“He’s the Aburu leader. He launched a Coup, and took over the power with his men. He suspected I was playing both sides, so I ran away. Now, we’re gathering the opposition.”

He drew a knife and slashed their bounds.

“So there’s no Chancellor at all?”, Mika asked, rubbing her wrists.

“He’s exiled in Rangjur, in the North of the country with a few partisans. We’re trying to get to them, but the communications have been shut down.”

“Which explains why you couldn’t reach the MOFA anymore.”, Sugo ended.

“Why did you share information with Hanashiro?”, Mika said, skeptical. "If you were Tesfin’s henchman, she must’ve offered you a great reward for taking the risk to spy on him.”

Shourav turned towards the young woman, rapidly scanning her with his grey eyes. “You’re quick-witted. I expected no less from an Inspector of the PSB”.

He paused, seizing her up and down.

“I’m willing to answer this question, but only to the SAD officers.”, he finally said.

“What do you mean?”, she replied, furrowing her brows.

“I can’t discuss the details of my mission, unless it’s with registered MOFA agents. I’ll have Protik accompany you to another tent, where you can get some food and some rest, while I talk with your colleagues.”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”, she yelped. “Don’t you think it’s not quite the time nor the place to put on some airs? Some lives are at stake!”

“And mine would be if I shared the wrong information with a non-authorized interlocutor”, Shourav replied. “I’m sorry, you can’t stay.”

“Shimotsuki, it’s okay”, Ginoza said, while she was opening her mouth to riposte. “We’ll get to you once we’re done.”

“How nice of you!”, she exclaimed, glaring at him. “I should be thankful you’ll graciously keep me updated about the ongoing situation, deciding which details should be brought to my knowledge!”

“You’ve said it, our friends’ lives at are stake”, Ginoza said. “The more we argue, the more we’re losing precious time. I promise we’ll tell you as much as we can, but you need to leave for now.”

“Spare yourself the trouble”, she curtly replied. “I don’t need a stupid report from you. There’s nothing I can’t discover by myself, and you gotta be sure that whatever you’re trying to hide from me and the PSB, I’ll figure out, and I’ll expose you and your bloody department once we go back in Japan! Geez, I can’t believe that even over thousands of miles away from here, Hanashiro still manages to piss me off!”

Her shrieks faded away as she exited the tent, followed by Protik, who suddenly looked way tinier than he actually was.

“She seems like a piece of work”, Shourav commented.

“Believe me, that was nothing”, Ginoza somberly said. “Now, let’s get down to business. What did Hanashiro promise you?”

* * *

A stormy night was falling on the military camp.

Mika was sitting on a chair, vigorously tapping her finger index on one of her crossed forearms and impatiently tapping one of her crossed legs against one of the table feet when he entered her tent. He immediately knew she had been mulling over her infuriated thoughts, and was a boiling teakettle ready to explode.

“Let me guess”, she said, her teeth clenched with anger as he sat across the metallic table from her. “You’re tired of playing the secret agent game, and you remembered you actually had a _joint_ -mission to fulfill?”

“Is that the line you’ve been refining for the past hours?”, Ginoza soberly said, leaning backwards.

She gritted her teeth harder, her finger tapping ever so furiously against her arm.

“We’re gonna spend the night here, then we’ll leave at dawn to get to the Chancellor in the north”, he indicated. “Apparently he's got a helico, so we can go back to Japan.”

She stopped her agitated tapping. “So, is that the brilliant conclusion you’ve come to? Running home, empty-handed, with two missing agents?”

“Oskijan is a failed state, now. It’s a matter for a United Nations intervention.”

“And you’re perfectly fine leaving your colleague behind? I thought the SAD had a stronger camaraderie spirit”, she provoked.

“All of the country’s communication have been shut down”, Ginoza sighed. “The only way to ask the MOFA and the PSB for back up is to physically get to them.”

“I know, your charming companion Shourav already told us that. But are you willing to take his word for it, even though you’ve known him for like ten minutes?”

“He’s an ally. He works for the Foreign Affairs department.”

“As a double agent”, she emphasized. “What if he’s actually working for the enemy?”

“You don’t even know who the enemy is.”

“Because you won’t tell me anything!”, she yelled, slamming her palm on the table, making the soft light of the oil lamp put on it dangerously flicker.

“I’m not allowed, you know that”, Ginoza said, jaded.

“Nonsense. You’re just too jubilant to dangle your risible ‘classified information’ excuse right in my face.” She turned her head away from him, shutting her eyes. “I guess it makes you feel like you’re in control of something in your _pathetic_ life.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, and then stood up.

“What are you doing?”, she said.

“I’m leaving. This conversation is pointless.”

“We’re not done yet!”

“But I am. I’m done supporting your temper tantrums every now and then. Since I’m not your Enforcer anymore, I won’t endure your fits of rage just for the hell of it.”

She brutally stood in turn, kicking her chair backwards. “How _dare_ you talk to me that way?”, she bellowed. “Just because you’ve become someone else’s stooge doesn’t mean that…”

“Look at you, Mika”, he cut, raising his voice. “You’re all over the place. You remind me of myself, back when I was always mad at everything and odious to everyone, to conceal my own misery. And that’s a time I don’t want to be reminded of”.

Her eyes sparkled with both outrage and horror at the idea to resemble the man facing her. “Don’t you ever compare myself to you”, she spat. “You were just a mediocre Inspector who didn’t manage to keep his Hue clear! We’re nothing alike!”

“That’s funny, I used to say the same kind of things”, he sorely said. “I was obsessed with my Psycho Pass, and I despised anyone whose Hue deteriorated. Until I realized it didn’t bring me any happiness. Until I realized I was all alone with my resentment. And I’m afraid you’ll keep growing bitter and bitter, like I did, if you don’t seriously reflect on yourself.”

“You gotta be kidding me!”, she said, outstretching her arms into the air, for effect. “In what universe do latent criminals give advice about mental health? No one asked for your opinion, ex-Enforcer!”

Ginoza had a sarcastic laugh.

“See? Exactly the clear-Hue mania I was talking about! You’re sadly a caricature of what I used to be. But make no mistake, you’re not fooling anyone, _Inspector_. You only execrate latent criminals because it’s easier than admitting you’re terrified to become one of us.”

“What on earth are you talking about? I execrate latent criminals because they’re abhorrent people like you!”

“Give it a rest. You can’t stand to think that maybe one day, you’ll turn into one, which is why you’re so heinous with us. Because if you actually conceded you liked us, it’d mean we’re not that different. And you’re petrified at this idea. So, you’re just extremely aggressive to protect yourself. A kind of coping mechanism for that cognitive dissonance, I suppose.”

“Shut up! I’ve had enough of your twaddle!”, she howled, knocking the oil lamp on the table with a violent sweep of her arm, sending it to the ground where it miraculously didn’t break.

“Truth is hard to hear, isn’t it, Mika?”, Ginoza acidly said. “It was hard for me as well, and I isolated myself from all of the persons who could’ve helped me back then. But when you come to think of it, who are your friends? Who are the persons who actually care for you, if not the latent criminals surrounding you?”

She threw her head backwards, bursting into a hysterical forced laugh. “I sincerely hope you don’t consider we’re friends”, she scorned with throbbing disgust. “Because I’d rather be locked into a mental institution!”

He sized her down with leniency.

“That’s true, we’re not”, he declared. “It’d mean you could have friends in the first place”.

He walked towards the exit.

“So what, you’re really leaving?”, she said, detesting the imploring tone her voice had taken. “You don’t expect me to beg you to stay, do you?”

He didn’t answer, so she caught up with him, blocking his way, grasping the both sides of the tent’s flap with her hands.

“For someone who doesn’t intend to beg me to stay, you’re pretty unconvincing”, he callously remarked.

She raised her chest with indignation, drawing herself up to her full length. Echoing her furiousness, the storm outside started to blow.

“You’re right", she said, her cheeks flaming with fury, "you’re not my Enforcer anymore, and Hanashiro probably made the best decision of her life when she decided to recruit you!”

“For once, we agree”, he sneered, his eyes lowering on her lips that had turned crimson red.

“I should actually thank her”, she articulated. “I can’t tell you how much weight she lifted from me!”

“I believe you. Poaching all of your _capable officers_ certainly alleviated your Division One. I wonder if Kasei was really pleased by this breath of air, though.”

“That’s cocky for someone who lost agents under his supervision, his own dad included”, she cruelly riposted.

She hadn’t meant to be that brutal, and she immediately regretted her last words, as Ginoza’s face ashened.

“That was low, even by your standards”, he glacially declared. “But it confirms what I said earlier. You’re really taking down my path. And honestly, I pity you.”

He pushed her on the side to make his way, and got out, leaving her all alone in the tent. She let herself fall on the ground, trembling of rage, blinking back shameful tears.

Echoing her sorrow, the rain outside started to pour.


	6. Chapter 6

**PART 6**

_Three seconds to breathe in; five seconds to breathe out._

_Geez, why am I beside myself like that? Pull yourself together. Who cares about what he thinks of you? It’s not as if his opinion was worth anything. After all, there’s a reason why latent criminals don’t have electoral rights._

Mika closed her eyes, focusing on her respiration.

_Damn, I really should get medication. That’s the first thing I’ll do once I’m back in Tokyo._

_So you can prove him right, that you’re utterly obsessed with your Psycho Pass and your mental health?_

_That’s not obsession. There’s nothing wrong with staying healthy._

_But are you really healthy?_

_Of course, I am!_

_Have you relatives to talk to? To rely on?_

_Well…_

_Has anyone ever invited you to an afterwork drink? To a birthday party?_

_…_

_That’s right. You’re all by yourself, with a light-blue Psycho Pass for sole company, and you eat alone at the cafeteria. Your only friends are those white little pills you swallow by dozens._

_A_ _t least my Hue stays clear!_

_Indeed. You really are a model citizen. A perfect System’s little pawn. A lonely System’s little pawn._

_That’s not true!_

_Really? When was the last time you’ve been intimate with someone? It goes back to the Oso Academy days, isn’t it? Or maybe with your former Enforcer Kunizuka, even though this one-sided crush was quite risible. You were desperate for her attention, and she only had eyes for the blond analyst._

_It was ages ago!_

_Perhaps. But in the end, both of them left you. Just like your former subordinates, who did not hesitate one second to walk away from you when they were offered the opportunity at the Foreign Affairs Department. That’s funny, it seems like no one wants to stay around you. Even latent criminals. Guess it’s worth the clear mind you keep bragging about._

“Get out of my head!”, Mika internally shouted, pressing her hands on her ears.

She stood and got outside her tent, running more than she was walking under the torrential rain.

* * *

_Japan_

“We’ve no contact with our Eagles. It’s been two days”, Hanashiro said.

“Same here with Inspector Shimotsuki and Enforcer Kisagari”, Homura calmly replied, sinking in his leather chair.

“We need to intervene.”

“And jeopardize the whole operation?”

Frederica frowned. “You tell me. Should we wait for their corpses to be returned by the Oskijan authorities?”

“You’re awfully pessimistic”, Homura impassibly said. “They’ve been designated by the System as the most suited agents for this operation. We should have faith in Sybil’s conjectures.”

“That’s the point. They’re excellent agents. It’d upset me to lose them over a bold gamble.”

Homura furrowed his brows. “Who don’t you trust? Your agents? Or the System?”

“I’ve a complete faith in my officers”, Hanashiro replied. “I’m just not sure Sibyl can unquestionably predict if this mission can be a success or a massacre.”

“You’re severe. The System processed more than a thousand of criterions to select the best compatibility between our agents.”

“In terms of union of skills, yes. I’m more concerned about personal relationships.”

“Sibyl also established compatibility based on intimate preferences”, Homura remarked.

“Indeed. And that’s where I’m doubtful about the System’s precision in its judgement. I strongly believe some data can only be read by human eyes and brains.”

Frederica stood and went to the window. “Are you familiar with the concept of microexpression?”, she said, peering at the Tokyo skyline view. “It’s a physical response that occurs when an individual wants to consciously or unconsciously conceal an emotion. For a very brief moment, the true emotion is displayed on his or her face, before being hidden by the said individual. The lightening instant of true emotion is called microexpression.”

“I’m not sure to understand.”

“Let me give you an example. Supposing I asked Inspector Shimotsuki if she despised me, she could answer ‘no’, but her face would say otherwise. Her chin would slightly raise, or a side of her mouth would asymmetrically lift up. Those imperceptible physical indications would betray her true sentiment about me.”

“Because they are microexpressions of disdain”, Homura deduced.

“Right. Even though, in my example, Shimotsuki’d probably say ‘yes’ right away.”

Homura politely laughed, as Frederica continued.

“According to Sibyl’s compatibility assumptions, Ginoza and Shimotsuki were the best matching pair for professional matters, but the worst for personal ones. Which means the System considered that if they could do an outstanding job as operatives, they weren't meant to like each other as human beings.”

“Well, you can’t get along with everyone, can you?” Homura said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t work with mutual understanding at the end of the day.”

“That’s true. However, when I asked Ginoza if your Inspector’s presence on the operation was an issue, he hesitated for a very quick moment before saying no.”

Homura shrugged. “If he doesn’t have sympathy for Shimotsuki, that’s understandable”. 

“True. But then, his face should have shown the microexpression of disdain we’ve just discussed. Yet, when he heard the name ‘Mika Shimotsuki’, his pupils dilated for half a second before going back to their normal sizes. And if that’s an emotional response to a verbal stimulus, it’s not a microexpression of disdain.”

The MWPSB chief raised a sceptical brow.

“Dilated pupils?”

“Indeed.” Frederica turned on her heels to face him. “It’s a microexpression of desire.”

“So, if I follow, you’re saying that one of your agents fancies one of my Inspectors, unbeknownst to the System? How is that relevant to the Oskijan mission?”

“I’m saying that Sibyl established that those two couldn’t have a strong personal link, whereas they seemingly can. Because Sibyl cannot apprehend all of the unexplainable subtleties between individuals. Therefore, it leaves a grey area in which we can only speculate, but not rely on. As a consequence, we shouldn’t blindly trust the System’s statements, and have a proactive attitude to protect our agents on the field.”

Homura steepled his fingers, meditative.

“Alright. Let’s give them one more day, then we’ll take measures”.

* * *

_Oskijan_

Sugo had been right, the monsoon could be dreadful in this country, Ginoza thought, as he was cleansing his Glöck, rotating a cleaning rod down its barrel while watching the lightening of the storm reflecting on the cloth of his tent. He didn’t mind the sound of the rain, he actually found it quite soothing. And adequately, it turned out that he really needed to clear his mind that night.

He took a peek at the dripping woman who had just barged in, her wet hair sticking to her face, her cargo boots covered with mud, and noticed that for once, she didn’t have the usual arrogance and fierceness burning in her eyes, but looked more like a skittish doe in the clutches of a wolf. It bitter-sweetly reminded him of her first day on the job as an Inspector, a few years ago, when she was a timid young rookie troubled by her Enforcers. It also was a pouring night.

“What do you want?”, he coldly said, his eyes going back to his gun. “It’s late, you should get some sleep.”

Mika found herself quite dumb, standing there, completely soaked, not even knowing what she came to find.

She advanced, hesitantly, reaching the table he was working on, and she put her hands on his weapon, obliging him to stop polishing its steel.

“I’m not afraid to become a latent criminal”, she said.

He sighed, still without looking at her. “If you came to….”

“I’m _terrified_ at the very idea”, she bluntly cut.

He slightly tilted his head, waiting for her to continue.

“I’ve always tried to distance myself from them”, she resumed, choosing her words carefully. “To keep control. But every once in a while, I forget I work with them, and when I realize we can get along, I just panic.”

She swallowed, her mouth becoming dry. “So, the only way for me to regain that distance is to persuade myself that I hate them. That I hate you. And, sometimes”, she bit her bottom lip, “I say things I don’t mean.”

She stopped, scrutinizing his face to detect an emotion, as he remained abashedly impassive.

“You’re done?” he calmly asked.

She hesitated. She wasn’t sure.

“Well… I guess so…”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind”, he said, his hands going back to his gun.

Baffled by his lack of reaction, she found herself absolutely dumb, standing there as he was deliberately disregarding her, giving her the ice treatment. And she hated to concede that it hurt. She’d rather have him yell at her than being so aloof. But he used to be a detective after all. He perfectly knew how to use silence as an intimidation means, and he had apparently decided to teach her the ropes with a situational exercise.

“Goodnight then”, he eventually said to dismiss her, as she wasn’t leaving. “Unless you’re planning to stay.”

She gawked at him. “Wh… of course not! Why would I want to stay?”

“You tell me”, he replied, his eyes still set on his weapon. “You’re the one who came to find me in the middle of the night, to say things I already know. One might think you’re looking for something else.”

She gasped, slack-jawed by his impertinence. “What do you mean? You got it all wrong if you think I came for…”

“For what? That’s what I’d like to know, because I didn’t say anything”, he cut, racking the slide of the Glöck, ensuring it cycled smoothly. “So, explain this to me, Mika. Why did you _really_ come here?”

“Forget it, it was a mistake!”, she retorted, with a less confident voice than she had expected.

He finally raised his head to look at her. If his green eyes severely seized her down, they sparkled with an unusual glow, and as cliché as it was, meeting his stare sent a shiver down her spine.

He stood up, bypassing the table to face her.

She took notice that he was wearing an undershirt for top as he drew nearer, and she hoped he wouldn’t hear the race of her heartbeat when he bent forward, towering her.

“Why aren’t you leaving, then?”

She opened her mouth to riposte something incisive, but nothing came to her mind, as she realized she was unable to find a credible reason not to have already walked away.

“I just…I…”

His lips imperceptibly turned into a smirk, and she glared at him with fervor, as long seconds passed by. His gaze was becoming unbearable.

“Oh, screw it!”

She threw her hands around his neck, grabbing his nape with her fingers, hungrily seeking his lips with her mouth. He stepped back at first, astonished by the rashness he’d never have suspected from her, even though he was the one who'd initiated it, but he rapidly adapted, and when he kissed her back, he bit her lips like a starving wild beast that just had pounced on its prey. He used to be a hunting dog, after all. His true nature was coming roaring back. He only needed to be unleashed.

"I promise you, I didn’t come for that”, she gasped against his mouth that was searching for hers.

“It’s still time to leave; the door is wide open”, he replied, while making sure she wouldn’t leave, firmly clamping his hold on her tiny waist.

His lips travelled down her jawline and her throat, to nip at her collarbone, as his hands went down her blouse.

He pulled the damp fabric up, exposing her breasts to the chilly air of the night and then to the warmth of his mouth, while she dug her fingers into his hair, undoing his ponytail. She muffled a moan when he sucked her nipple, and she tightened her grasp on his scalp in response, pressing him closer.

They messily fell on the military cot that gave way under their force, and they found themselves on the ground. He unbuckled her belt, freeing her shapely legs from her pants, before doing the same with his own, as she hurriedly tossed his undershirt above his head, scraping his shoulders while doing so, unable to temper her impatient impulses. When she lied down on her back, he got on top of her.

She placed her hands on his chest, lustily contemplating his strong torso, as he placed a hand on her stomach, shifting it down, and his other on her thigh, shifting it up. She blinked when his bionic fingers removed her underwear, she blinked again when his human ones caressed her down her waist, insolently arousing her, and she moaned, amazed by how simple it was to surrender.

She’d never thought giving up control could turn out that easy though, as her directional nature had everything obsessionally planned and ordered in her life. Always looking for being the only one in charge, she hated being commanded, all the more staying passive. But at this very moment, she’d decided to brush her dominant personality under the carpet, and conveniently, the man busy down her legs appeared willing to take it over. So, she completely abandoned herself to him, letting him monitor her, making her squirm, making her grunt, driving her towards a high-fevered pitch of desire, until she was at his complete mercy.

As for him, he’d never thought watching her wriggling against him, completely subdued, would be such an extreme turn-on. More accurately, and as weird at it seemed, he’d never thought he could’ve been sexually excited at all. Growing up into an acrimonious Inspector, he’d always despised carnal pleasures, judging that those bestial behaviors precisely belonged to beasts, and as a consequence, were the exclusive preserve of latent criminals. Turning into one had slightly changed his point of view, as he’d started to physically feel attraction to particular women, making him understand that humans were prurient beings, even more than animals. But losing one of these particular women had locked every inch of desire inside him, and he’d finally believed that he was not designed for intimate relationships, as a kind of curse for never having cherished his loved ones when he had the chance to.

Yet, he’d been terribly mistaken. He wasn’t cursed at all. He only needed to find a way to release the burning eagerness dormant in him, and the young woman beneath his body occurred to be a very persuasive trigger. So, when she raised her hips, unable to stand his strokes anymore, he thrusted into her, gloriously ready.

More accustomed to female bodies, she held her breath when he entered her, and bit her lips when he began to move, too proud to tell him she had little experience of sexual intercourse with men, thus, to ask him to be gentle. He nonetheless perceived her soreness, and buried his face down her neck, forcing himself not to rush. She quickly adjusted, catching up the pace, and he went deeper at every push, until the discomfort she had experienced at first made way to pure delectation. 

The thunder outside was covering the noise they made, and that was fortunate, because they were loud. All of the anger and frustration she had carried for all those years were craving to explode, as he was craving to cry out the sadness and acerbity he had lived by for his entire life. So, they were loud, exceptionally loud, a sort of cathartic process to exteriorise their mutual grudge for having lost the happiness game in their anesthetized society. And for the first time, screaming actually felt delightful.

At some point, Mika met his intense stare, and her heart dropped, as she suddenly realized she’d never been so vulnerable.

“Look away!”, she panted with flaming cheeks, her chest rising and falling with excessively rapid breaths against his ribcage.

As he didn’t comply, the glint in his pupils growing even brighter, she attempted to cover his eyes with one of her hands, but he slapped it down, intertwining their fingers in a secured lock, and he approached his face to hers, his nose brushing her freckled one.

“Don’t”, she muttered, defiantly.

But as he’d mentioned earlier, he wasn’t his Enforcer anymore, so he unscrupulously disobeyed, and captured her lips with his mouth. She tried to resist his kiss, even if it took just a few flicks of his tongue for her to abdicate, as he appeared to be surprisingly talented.

Their rhythm intensified, and she felt a warmth growing inside her, blurring her vision, making her ears rang so she couldn’t hear him shouting her name, and she violently arched her back when it burst, her face distorted with pleasure. She was still under the aftermath of her orgasm when he reached his own, before collapsing on top of her, melting his steaming skin, dripping in sweat, with hers.


	7. Chapter 7

PART 7

Kougami’s fingers methodically cleansed Kisaragi’s wound, using a piece of fabric he had teared off his shirt.

“There’s a swelling around your rib, but I don’t think it’s broken”, he declared with a clinical tone, his azure eyes rapidly scanning her thorax, following a well-practiced process of medical check-up that he had learnt in SEAUn, back in the days. “No sign of abdominal trauma. The bullet brushed your chest but did not got into it, so it’s only bruised.”

Kisaragi nodded, feverish, letting him examine her.

“I wish I could disinfect the area”, he grunted. “I guess you’ll have to wait for us to find a way to escape this goddam place.”

He helped her laying down, gently supporting her back with his arm. “Try not to move, and to breathe normally. If you need to cough, do it; it’ll prevent from chest infection.”

“I thought you were an insensitive brute, at first, but you’re actually nice”, Kisaragi said, pearls of sweat dripping from her forehead.

Kougami grinned as he stood on his feet.

“I’ve been called a lot of things, but ‘nice’ isn’t a recurring one”, he remarked, examining the room they were held captive by Tesfin’s men, bitterly taking note of the absence of window and the presence of an armoured door on the wall.

_Just our luck._

“Well, my chief thinks you are”, Kisaragi objected, making Kougami burst into a sardonic laugh.

“Please”, he derided, violently pulling the door handle in vain, “I’m sure Inspector Shimotsuki has a lot of adjectives to refer to me, but I’d be damned if she thought I was nice. An _insensitive brute_ would be more accurate, coming from her.”

“I was speaking of Akane Tsunemori”.

He stopped, losing interest for their compromised evasion, and turned around to face her.

“Akane Tsunemori is no longer an Inspector”, he observed, slightly tilting his head to the side. “Why are you saying she’s your chief?”

“She’s a statutory Enforcer, so, hierarchically speaking, she’s above me”.

Kougami had a nonchalant shrug. “I see.”

“I heard a lot of rumors about her”, the young woman continued, staring into space as if she was more talking to herself than to the SAD agent. “But ever since she arrived, there’s been such a great chemistry between Enforcers and Inspectors, that I don’t care about what she’s done to lose her title. I’m glad to work by her sides.”

She set her eyes back at him, and noticed that he wasn’t displaying his usual sullen face anymore, as if the mention of his former colleague had suddenly appeased his inner ghosts.

“She’s a remarkable officer, undoubtedly”, Kougami agreed, his gaze drifting away. “And overall, a remarkable woman.”

“Well, she was quite laudatory about you, too.”

His face darkened.

“She shouldn’t have”, he said, kicking in the door as a matter of form. “I’m the last person who deserves her compliments.”

“It wasn’t pure lavish praise, to be fair”, Kisaragi nuanced. “But she said you were… I can’t remember… I think it was along the lines of ‘selfishly selfless’ or something like that.”

Kougami raised a quizzical brow. “ _Selfishly selfless_? Can you elaborate that for me?”

Kisaragi hesitated, choosing her words mindfully.

“She said that you always put the others before yourself, and always wanted to save the weakest. But that had led you to a dark path of revenge, making you walk away from people caring for you.”

She coughed, and placed a hand on her bloated rib to ease the pain, as he patiently waited for her to continue.

“Tsunemori said that you were too concerned about drawing those people towards your faith, so you just abandoned them, because you wanted to protect them”, Kisaragi resumed. “She said it was… an egotistical act of altruism. I think those were her words.”

“So that’s what she said about me, huh?”

“Yes. But it was in a kind way, trust me”, she added, understanding it could be wrongfully interpreted.

Kougami didn’t appear annoyed or offended. On the contrary, his lips turned into a smile that for once, wasn’t caustic, but a frank, genuine expression of elation.

“That sounds like Akane. She’s always had the right terms to depict people’s drive and behavior. Just a talent she has.” He smiled even more. “And even if hearing her truth can hurt to the core, it’s somehow always sweet. Another talent of hers.”

He paused, his smile fading away as quickly as it had appeared.

“However, despite all of her wisdom, she has a strong belief that people can change”, he sombrely carried on. “And that’s a point on which she’s utterly wrong.”

Kisaragi frowned. “Why?”

“She’s convinced that anyone can find redemption, regardless of what they’ve done. But people don’t miraculously transform overnight”, he replied, tersely. “When they’re rotten with hatred and sorrow, they only cultivate that distress, and no matter how hard they try, they never find light again.”

“And are you? Rotten with hatred and sorrow?”, Kisaragi asked. “Are you talking about yourself right now?”

“It doesn’t really matter”, he said, leaning back on the wall in a detached, casual movement, as his hand mechanically fished his pockets for cigarettes, even though he had smoked his last one for a long time ago.

“I think it does”, she insisted. “Because if you picture yourself as the tormented person you just described, it’s no wonder why you think you must distance yourself from the people you love.”

“That’s lucky I don’t like many people then, I guess”, he commented with an acerbic tone that contrasted with his relaxed posture.

“What about people actually liking you?”

He scoffed.

“C’mon, Kisaragi. Even you told me earlier. I’m not exactly the most popular guy in town, am I?” He cliqued his tongue in derision. “I bet you can’t name more than two people who’d honestly admit liking me. At least, I can’t.”

“You make it sound like it’s a fatality”, she countered. “Are you sure you’re not wallowing in the anti-hero character, because that’s a way not to give people any expectation from you, so you cannot disappoint them? Is it why you keep pushing them away?”

“Damn- And I thought being locked down here was troublesome”, he ironically said, taking a peek at her from the corner of his eyes. “Now I have to endure some unsolicited dimestore psychology analysis. Should I lay down and tell you about my absent father or my disturbed teenage years?”

Kisaragi took the hit without flinching.

“Tsunemori was right”, she simply said. “You truly believe that you don’t deserve happiness. That you’re uncapable to be esteemed. Which is why you hide yourself behind this mask of sarcasm, and you reject everyone around trying to help.” She coughed again, spiting some blood in the palm of her hand, before adding, with a weakened voice: “And it’s a shame, because that’s not a decision you should be making on your own, since people, or at least _she_ , certainly cares for you.”

Kougami eyes brightened for a lightening second before retrieving their sempiternal gloominess.

“Another mistake of hers”, he impassively replied. “And probably her biggest.”

Kisaragi looked at him with indulgence.

“I withdraw what I say”, she declared. “You were right. You’re, indeed, doomed to never find peace.”

Kougami was about to answer when the door opened, and two guards entered their cell.

“You’re coming with us, Mister Japanese”.

* * *

“So, tell me, what did Hanashiro offer Shourav, in exchange for his information on Tesfin?”, Mika asked.

Ginoza had a soft laugh that vibrated against her naked back. “Are you really willing to talk about the case right now?”

“Why? Are you too distracted to focus?”, she replied, in absolute bad faith as she was the one who needed to be distracted from his body spooning her.

He hunched over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of her visage.

“I now understand why you came here in the first place”, he teased. “You should’ve told me you only wanted confidential pillow talk details.”

She internally blessed their position for him not to face her, as she had turned crimson red at the mention that they just had sex.

“I told you, I didn’t come for _that_ ”, she dryly said.

“You told me, indeed.”

“And I really meant it!”

“I never said you didn’t.”

She could hear the underlying irony in his voice, and even if she was unable to see his expression, she bet he was grinning.

She palmed her forehead, mortified.

_This is what happens when you stop taking your mental care pills. You just go crazy without them, and you end up in ridiculous situations like this one._

_Hum, to be fair, it’s the first time you turn out to be that insane. What on earth was on your mind when you decided that fornicating with a latent criminal, your ex-subordinate among other things, was a bright idea?_

_Come on, at least, for once in your life, you’ve done something reckless and spontaneous. It’s funnier than your dull character always going by the book._

_Speaking about books, what about the Inspector Deontology Code? Not to throw a damper, but I believe you’re not allowed to have intimate relationships with your Enforcers. Former and actual._

_Great. Now, you’re really in trouble. I hope at least it was worth the shot._

Mika shook her head to shut her mental voices up.

“Are you alright?”

“What do you think? Of course, I’m not alright”, she retorted, trying to ignore his hand stroking her hip and his peaceful respiration on her neck. “I never should’ve come here. It was a mistake.”

“You also told me that”, he commented, lightly.

“Well, it didn’t prevent you from taking advantage of my momentary weakness, did it? Geez, that’s why I hate latent criminals. You’re just shamelessly deceitful.”

“Your _momentary weakness_ , huh?”, he said. “That’s an interesting way to put it.”

She brutally removed his hand from her waist and stood, proceeding to gather her discarded clothes on the ground, as he leant on his elbow.

“No one must know about what happened”, she declared, hooking her bra behind her back. “I’d be thankful if we were on the same page.”

She growled inarticulately while searching for her shirt that had mysteriously disappeared in the darkness of the tent, as he got into a sitting position, embracing his knees with his arms, watching her cursing about that freaking blouse, that freaking night, and everything that could possibly come to her agitated mind.

“I know I’m the one who came to find you, and I take full responsibility for that”, she continued, palpating the ground, carefully avoiding his stare. “We…We just had a fight. I was upset, and I wanted to make things right.” She sighed, her hand brushing her tangled hair off her face. “My mental pills were gone, so I couldn’t get medication, and I didn’t know what to do. And… Damn, _where is my fucking shirt_?”

“Hey”, he said, reaching his hand out to calm her down. “It’s okay, you don’t have to justify yourself to me.”

She had a spiteful roar of laughter as she finally turned around, looking up and down on him.

“Well, that’s fortunate”, she taunted with obvious contempt, rejecting his bionic palm with an irritated wave. “It’d be the last straw for me being answerable to a primitive hound dog”.

Even if he didn’t blink, she discerned his muscles tense at her last sentence, and she dropped sat on the soil, giving up her nervous clothe hunt.

“Ironic, isn’t it?” she piercingly said. “I came to prove you wrong, because I didn’t want you to think what you said about me. But at the end of the day, you were right. I’m just a control-freak bitch obsessed with her Hue.”

She leant her head backwards, shutting her eyes. “I should have just listened to you and go straight to bed, and spare me the trouble of that glorious mess.”

He frowned, his eyes dimming behind the wisps of hair over his face.

“So what, was that a kind of a challenge? A bet with yourself to make your point?”

She had not expected that turn of the conversation, and she re-opened her eyes, frowning in turn. “What do you m…”

“Sleeping with a latent criminal to show you could control your Psycho Pass?”, he laconically cut.

“You’re being absurd. I can’t even check my Hue right now!”

“And would you like to?”

“No!”

He broke eye-contact with her, looking away. “Well, perhaps you should.”

“Why are you saying that?”

He completely turned his back to her, while getting dressed in turn.

“Some people can degrade other person’s Hue just by talking to them. Doesn’t ring a bell?”, he said, putting his pants on. “One might think having sex with a latent criminal wouldn’t be recommended for the clear-minded woman you are. Especially since you don’t have your mental pills.”

“Are you implying that I’m not stable enough to handle what happened between us?”, she inquired, more saddened at this thought than she had expected.

“I’m saying that you should be wondering about the real motives that led you to come here originally”, he replied. “Because the last thing I want is to be held responsible for painting you black.”

She shook her head, thrown into confusion.

“I don’t understand where this is coming from. It just doesn’t sound like you.”

As he didn’t respond, she came closer and firmly cupped his chin with her hand, forcing him to look at her.

“I didn’t sleep with you to prove that I could manage my Psycho Pass”, she declared, her black pupils flickering from his left to his right eye. “Or to prove anything, for that matter.”

“Then why?”

“Because I wanted to, damn it!”, she exclaimed, before biting her bottom lip, blushing at her choice of words.

She stared at him for a few seconds with a mix of anger and disarray, upset at him for making her confess and upset at herself for effectively confessing. Their bodies were too close, and she had to force her eyes not to drift towards his bare chest.

“Naturally, I’ll never admit it to anyone, so if you ever mention what happened, I’ll kill you with my own hands”, she resumed, pungent. “Oh, and by the way, if it appeared that my Hue actually declined because of you, I swear to God I’ll…”

He never knew what she swore to God, as he silenced her with his lips.

She wheezed, her protests muffled in his mouth. But as it had been established, he was rather convincing, so her petulance eventually vanished, and she allowed him to wrap his palms around her neck while she kissed him back.

“You’re really abusing of my momentary weaknesses lately”, she mumbled.

“I’m a latent criminal, remember? I’m just _shamelessly deceitful_.”

She pouted. “You could’ve at least refuted that I was a control-freak bitch obsessed with her Hue.”

“Your words, not mine.”

He was about to lean forwards to kiss her again when she abruptly interposed her hand between their mouths.

“Wait…I think I know what Frederica proposed to Shourav”, she said, pensively putting her index finger on her chin.

“Is that really what’s on your mind right now?”, he growled, his own mind drawn to her half-naked body against his, attracting him like a magnet. “Because I’m positively too distracted to focus”.

“I’m serious. It can’t be money, because he wouldn’t need it if he was Tesfin’s best man. All the more if he ended up dead. Which means it… Ah!…”

She gasped as he suddenly enveloped his arm around her waist, taking her to the ground, making her lay on her back.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”, she said, falsely scandalized as she cambered and curved her back, helping him position her below his torso.

“I’m shutting you up”, he replied, giving her an understanding look, knowing that she had perfectly figured out what he was doing.

She scoffed. “Because you think you’re so good that I’m gonna leave it there? That I’m gonna forget about the case just for the sake of your _amazing skills_?”, she defied, wishing she had more faith in her own abilities to resist his touch.

He kissed the delicate spot at the junction of her neck and shoulder for answer, apparently determined to make her forget everything but his mouth.

But Mika wasn’t willing to admit defeat. At least not yet.

“Hanashiro’s offer must have been something regarding Shourav’s safety”, she restarted, fixing an imaginary point on the tent ceiling to gather her ideas, as Ginoza was definitely going south. “That’s the only option I can picture.”

She sighed when he traced his way down her chest, his lips brushing her milky skin, his teeth leaving purplish marks among the moles covering her cleavage, and then his mouth travelled down her stomach, to finally stop between her naked legs, that he resolutely spread apart.

“But the thing is, Hanashiro couldn’t properly assure his protection from Tokyo, as he was an undercover agent”, she continued, compelling her brain to concentrate as her body disobeyed, heat building inside her. “As a consequence, it had to be a safeguard for the period after.”

“You never give up, do you?” Ginoza said, nibbling at her inner thigh, his warm breath against it making her shiver.

“I’m an Inspector, it’s my job to find out the truth. And I’m telling you that I … I….”

She bit her lips as his own went up her legs, sending a fiery surge of need through her midriff.

“I think Frederica promised him political asylum”, she said, while his mouth hovered over her abdomen, deliberately avoiding her most intimate parts to incite her lust, and she found herself longing for his jaws on her womanhood. “A free entry to Japan for his good and faithful services, to ensure his security. Perhaps even a new identity.”

One of his hand went to one of her boobs, sliding under her bra. He pinched her nipple underneath the thin cotton fabric, making it peak between his fingers, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction to moan in response.

“However”, she continued, her voice breaking more and more at each word, “granting diplomatic protection falls under my jurisdiction. So, if your abominable blonde’s little gamesmanship… Oh God…”

She panted as he grabbed her hips with his free hand, finally burying his head between her legs, and she grasped his hair on the tip of his scalp, encouraging him in spite of herself.

“I suggest that she shares her information with the MWPSB instead of making deals behind closed doors”, Mika hoarsely inhaled, shutting her eyes. “It’s only by working together that we’ll actually get results … and I… I….Mmmmh…”

Her phrase ended up in eager moans, and she squeezed her thighs against his head, as he licked at her, tasting the saltiness of her flesh, smelling the tanginess of her skin. She tightened her fist in his hair and covered her mouth to smother the luscious sounds she made, resenting herself for indulging in these abnormal states of desire he seemed to successfully take her to. She tried to retrieve her train of thoughts, but her mind was just a confused tangle of sensations, and she eventually gave up, abandoning herself to his, indeed, amazing skills, scratching his shoulders at the rhythm of the ecstatic screeches she released. He hadn’t shut her up properly speaking, but his motives appeared to have changed, since he was ostensibly pursuing the way to make her scream at her loudest.

When his tongue found a particularly sensitive area, her pelvis quaked so hard that he had to press his palms against it, pinning her down so he could keep going, lapping at her even more, his mouth plundering her center until she climaxed.

She was still jolting with pleasure, tremendous tingles running in her entire body, when he lied next to her. He watched her recover her breath, and tenderly caressed her flamed cheeks with the back of his fingers.

“Frederica didn’t offer Shourav political asylum”, he said, running a thumb along her jaw. “Now stop mulling about her. It’s gonna cloud your Hue.”

Mika turned her face to him, exhausted.

“Seems like I’m not the only one obsessing with my Psycho Pass after all”, she muttered, her glowing lips almost touching his, and it took all of his willpower not to bite them.


	8. Chapter 8

_Japan_

Akane dodged the punch without even breaking a sweat, and then lifted her right leg in a swift, graceful movement, before kicking the training cyborg into the chest, making it fall onto its knees. She took advantage of her opponent’s weakness to punch its steel torso, sending it to the ground, and knocked its face with all of her strength, until the hologram picture flickered, revealing the robotic structure under the designed artificial expression. Her knuckles started to bleed under the powerful blows she was giving when a profound voice made her stop.

“I think it had enough for today. And your hands too.”

Akane delivered the final stroke, before turning around to face Frederica Hanashiro.

“Thinking about someone you’d punch instead of this stupid machine?” the blond woman asked.

“Not really. I just got distracted. I didn’t realize I was hitting so hard.”

Frederica got closer and examined the metallic corpse lying on the floor of the MWPSB’s training room.

“You didn’t spare it, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t find myself fighting you on a hand-to-hand combat. You’re way stronger than you seem.”

Akane had an embarrassed laugh.

“You’re giving me too much credit. I’ve been practising with these robots for five years now", she modestly said. "I almost know their fighting sequence by heart."

“Still, that’s rather impressive.”

She sat on a bench press as Akane opened a water bottle that she chugged entirely.

“We’re leaving for Oskijan tomorrow first hour in the morning, together with an elite commando unit of the United Nations”, Hanashiro said, watching the brunette wipe her upper lip with the back of her hand. “A rescue mission for our team on the field.”

Akane adjusted the squishy towel on her shoulders, sponging the sweat dripping from her nape. “Won’t this be interpretated as a belligerent intervention?”

“We have the approbation of the international community. What Oskijan thinks, or rather, what’s left of it, is the least of our concern.”

Akane imperceptibly shrugged.

“You think it’s a bad idea, don’t you?” Hanashiro affirmed rather she asked.

“You’re the global affairs specialist. I don’t have your expertise on international relations”, Akane simply stated. “From my perspective however, I can’t help but thinking about how such an operation would ruin our agents’ undercover work.”

“I would agree in other circumstances”, Frederica replied.

She sighed, mechanically twiddling her thumbs, her forearms resting on her knees.

“What I’m about to tell you must remain confidential”, she declared. “I do not have the authorization to disclose this information with anyone who isn’t under Foreign Affairs privilege. Consider it as a courtesy from my end.”

Her fingers tapped on her holo-watch, and a black screen appeared on top of her wrist.

“We have a special transmitter network between the MOFA agents”, the blond woman explained. “It allows us to communicate, even without signal. A kind of an emergency system. It’s quite convenient when our agents are in an abandoned zone of the city. Or in another country, to say the least.”

Her thumb swiped her watch, disclosing another screen that looked like a map to Akane.

“This came from Ginoza yesterday. He informed us that they got ambushed, but managed to get out of jam. Now he’s on his way to find the Chancellor in the North of Oskijan. Inspector Shimotsuki and Special Agent Sugo are with him”, she added, anticipating Akane’s concern. “They’re safe.”

“What about Kougami and Kisaragi?”

“That’s the thing”, Frederica scowled. “I’ve got nothing from Kougami so far.”

“Could his device be broken?”

“It could. But the communication canal is still activated when we try to reach him. Which means Kougami does receive our attempts to get to him.”

Akane’s teeth clenched with nervousness.

“Which means there are only two options there”, Frederica continued, pretending not having noticed her trouble. “Either Kougami isn’t able to switch on his device, let’s say he’s badly injured, or tied up.”

_Or dead._

“Or, he deliberately does not want to communicate with us”, she finished.

“Why wouldn’t he?”

Frederica had a bitter laugh, revealing white, perfectly aligned teeth.

“Come on, Tusnemori. I’m sure you can figure out why Kougami would intentionally ignore our calls, while being thousands of kilometres abroad, without any supervision whatsoever.”

Akane frowned.

“Are you suggesting that he would take this mission as an opportunity to leave Japan and disappear into nature?”

“You’ve worked with him long enough to know that deep down, Kougami is – and always will be – a wild beast looking for liberty”, Frederica pragmatically said, switching her holo-watch off. “His job at the MOFA is nothing more than a pretty muzzle for him. And even though I’m trying my best to give him leeway, I can tell he feels like a prisoner between our Bureau’s walls.”

“So what, he would just run off, without telling anyone?”

“It’s not like it never happened before.”

“But he chose to come back”, Akane exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with fervor. “It wouldn’t make any sense for him to try to vanish into thin air, again!”

“How can you be so sure? Once a man tasted freedom, he will never be content to be a slave, no matter how nice his masters are to him”, Frederica laconically declared. “Kougami is no exception.”

Akane’s hand tightened around the plastic bottle, making it crinkle in her palm.

“This is pure speculation”, she finally declared, regaining her composure. “If Kougami hasn’t reached out yet, it’s because he cannot, or he estimated that it was better not to.”

Frederica looked away.

“I guess we shall discover it soon enough.”

She stood, and walked to the exit, her honeyed curls bouncing at the rhythm of her pace in the most elegant way.

“Oh, one last thing I wanted to tell you about”, she added, her hand on the door handle. “I was surprised you hadn’t been chosen by the System to be part of the team. You’re the only one who worked with everyone we sent abroad. One might think you’d be the most suited for that operation.”

She studied Akane’s face as she was speaking, trying to detect an emotion on her visage, but the young woman only displayed her usual restraint.

“The Sibyl System probably estimated Kisagari was a better choice”, Tsunemori simply replied.

The Foreign Affairs chief raised a dubious eyebrow.

“We both know you’re one of the best agents of the PSB. Choosing Kisaragi over you would be a critical mistake from Sibyl”, she countered.

“We’ll never know that.”

“Perhaps. But what if I told you that I looked up the compatibility system the agent’s names had been entered in, and that your name hadn’t been registered?”

Akane tilted her head, blinking at Hanashiro’s last sentence.

“I checked the settings”, Frederica resumed. “And I realized that your code number had been manually withdrew from the server, but only for that particular compatibility session. It was then, re-added, once the names had been selected.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s exactly what I thought. So, I reviewed who had logged in just before the System decided who it’d send to Oskijan. And the code used was the one belonging to Shinya Kougami.”

Akane’s eyes narrowed.

“So it means…”, she muttered.

“That he purposely removed you of the Oskijan operation”, Frederica finished. “That’s right. Any insight on why he’d do this?”

_So it would be easier for him to run away? No guilt nor shame, no hard goodbyes?_

“None.”

“Well. That’s a question you can ask him once we bring him back”, Frederica said, opening the door. “By the way, one of the officers who was supposed to come with us has been declared unsuitable for that mission. His crime coefficient skyrocketed two nights ago, and he’s under medical treatment.” She paused. “Guess there’ll be an empty seat in our plane tomorrow.”

* * *

_Oskijan_

Kougami watched the mercenary sit in front of him, glancing at the sharp sabre he was carrying at his belt, and then at the salient features of his face accentuated by the light of the torches hanging on the walls.

They both stayed silent for a few seconds, until the man decided to break the heavy stillness of the room.

“I think we start off on the wrong foot”, he said, raising his hands to the sky as a gesture of truce.

Kougami scoffed, his muscles tightening against the ropes encircling his chest.

“Yeah, no shit. Shooting people and holding them captive don't usually make a good first impression.”

The mercenary’s affable smile froze into a rictus.

“You’re quite ungrateful for someone who owes his life to me from back when he was a roving crime fighter in West Asia”.

“Oh right, you told me you were the reason I was still alive”, Kougami sardonically said. “I wonder how I missed you rescuing me, though. By the way, why don’t you tell me who the hell you are? I usually don’t talk to people who haven’t introduced themselves first.”

The man peered at him for a few seconds, his clear eyes looking up and down, evaluating him.

“Alright. That’s true, you deserve a proper explanation”, he finally conceded. “My name is Kallal. I used to work for the United Nations military forces during the Diamond war, seven years ago.”

He scratched his unshaven chin, choosing his words, as Kougami leant backwards onto the cold metal of his chair.

“It was my first mission on the field”, Kallal continued. “I was young, and I was excited. Who wouldn’t be after all? We had been told we were fighting for justice. For freedom.” He tsked. “What we hadn’t been told though, was what a hell of a mess it was.”

He took a small silver flask out of his pants pocket.

“I lost my commander and half of my team on the very first week. Bombs were exploding all the time, everywhere. We didn’t know who the enemies were anymore. At some point, we even started to shoot on sight. Kinda ironic for … _peacemakers_ , I think that’s how we were named. But make no mistake; we were only putting the country to fire and sword”.

He sneered.

“Anyway. One day, we were sent home, just like that. Apparently, Oskijan wasn’t needing the United Nations any longer. I only understood later that it was because of the Chancellor’s Coup of 2114.”

“The Chancellor was rightfully appointed that year”, Kougami interrupted.

Kallal had an irritated wave of his hand.

“Bullshit. Those so-called elections were completely rigged, thanks to the help of the goddam international community. The UNO is nothing more than a technocratic nest of corruption”, he said, crinkling his nose with obvious disgust. “But that wasn’t my problem anymore, right? So I went back home. And things started to get south. I had what you could call a post traumatic syndrome. The horrors of war, you know. Every bloody night I would wake up screaming, my sheets soaked with my own sweat.” He took a sip of alcohol from his flask, his Adam’s apple pulsing at the contact of the alcohol in his throat. “I probably could have healed, if I had received proper medical treatment, but I couldn’t afford it. And at the same time, the authorities began to import the Sibyl System in SEAUn.”

Kougami’s eyes narrowed.

“They started to test the population, to measure our crime coefficients”, Kallal continued. “And mine was bad, really bad. But SEAUn didn’t get to have those fancy mental institutions you have in Japan, no, no. The latent criminals were either enslaved to become government’s puppies, or, for the worst ones, executed. But hey, it was apparently the advent of the fucking free world.”

He spat on the ground.

“There was no way I’d become a docile little pawn for the Shambala Float, so I escaped. I didn’t have anywhere to go, no woman, no family. So I went to the only other country I knew.”

“Oskijan”, Kougami deduced.

“Yeah. It was OK I guess, at least for a while. I became a kind of mercenary with two or three guys, doing everyone’s dirty work, from the elite to the mafia. It was simple. They’d give me a name, a target. And I’d get rid of it. I won’t say that I’m proud of that time. But at least I could survive.”

Kallal was staring into space now, as if he was talking to himself, reliving the arduous moments of his past.

“One day, some people came to me, asking me to kill _you_. They offered me quite a bunch of money, I’m not gonna lie. So I accepted.” He took another sip from his flask, a longer one. “I spent months trying to find where you were. I tracked you down in the whole goddamn West Asia, but you were harder to find than a needle in a haystack. I was starting to despair when finally, I crossed your path.”

“Lucky me.”

“I got close, really close, until I had your face right in my rifle scope”, Kallal snapped, drawing his hand to his eye, aiming an imaginary gun at Kougami. “I’ll always remember that day. One finger pression and your brain was covering the streets of the old Kuala Lumpur”. He slowly mimed pulling a trigger, before lowering his hand that went back to his knee. “And that’s when I decided to spare you.”

Kougami burst into laughter, mockingly throwing his head backwards, smashing the dramatic tension Kallal had been building for the past minutes.

“That’s what you call saving my life? Interesting”, the MOFA agent derided. “On this assumption, anyone who already had murder desires but didn’t take action is a hero. You probably identify as one, in fact. A justice knight toiling in the background", he added with irony. "That’d explained the sabre and the whole paraphernalia.”

Kallal’s jaws clenched at the captive’s jeering.

“Aren’t you at least curious to know who wanted you dead?”, he said, his flared nostrils betraying his annoyance.

Kougami elongated his legs with nonchalance. “I know a lot of people who’d want me dead”, he lazily said. “For some reason, it seems that I can make enemies more easily than friends.”

“Oh, I know the reason. I know why they wanted to kill you, the people who paid me to put a bullet between your eyes”, Kallal retorted. “You were becoming a threat for the authorities. A disturbing grain of sand in the gearing of reality.”

He snapped his fingers for emphasis, attempting to get a reaction from the man facing him, in vain, as Kougami only slouched his upper-body, patently bored by the conversation.

“I saw how you helped people”, Kallal insisted, trying to make eye-contact with his detainee. “How you taught them to think by themselves. How you taught them to fight back. You …enlightened them.”

Kougami had another taunting laugh.

“Geez, that’s a bold claim. But I’m afraid you’re way romanticizing my journey in Asia, and now, that you’re totally off the mark. I just tried to give a hand to the weakest when I had the chance.”

“You didn’t only give a hand to the weakest”, Kallal riposted. “You had a formidable influence on them. They saw you as their Savior, almost as their God. At least that’s how _I_ saw you.” He pointed a long finger at him. “You’re the reason I decided to start rebelling against that despotic system we’ve been forced to live in.”

“Well, if I’m responsible for you being a terrorist today, allow me not to take a lot of pride in it”.

Kallal looked away, ignoring Kougami’s acerbic remark.

“Have you ever heard about _Spleen and ideal_?”, he inquired, staring at the stone wall. “It’s the name of an old French book of poetry. A raw observation of the real world, which is a source of affliction and trauma for the writer.” He set his eyes back at Kougami. “It’s the _spleen,_ that can generate two consequences: self-isolation, or the pure desire to recreate a viable universe. And the latter is the _ideal_ the poet is trying to reach.”

“And I suppose that in your narrative, you’re the poet, am I right?” Kougami said, his lips turning into a snarl. “But if I recall correctly, Baudelaire never suggested to place bombs to achieve the epitome of society you’re talking about.”

“I can see you’re familiar with the author. I expected no less from you. You’re really an exceptional man, Shinya Kougami”, Kallal said, his rictus revealing a golden tooth in the back of his mouth. “But you can’t deny you’re agreeing with it. You despise the System just like Baudelaire despised his era, for which he only had disgust and hostility. Just like you have disgust and hostility for the society you live in, instead of the ideal of justice you’re craving.”

“The only thing I’m craving right now is a cigarette.”

“Make fun as you wish, I see clearly behind your game. Your sarcasm is just a façade you built in order to forget about the misery of your existence. Which is why I’m giving you a purpose. Help us get rid of the system of justice you call Sibyl, which is the anathema to free will and fairness.”

“Why are you so obsessed with the System?”, Kougami countered. “As far as I know, Oskijan hasn’t implemented it.”

“Oskijan is a failed state now, with guerrilla soldiers hiding in the forest, and a bribe Chancery hiding in the north of the country”, Kallal gravely said. “Soon, the United Nations will intervene to restore order, like they did seven years ago. And the Sibyl System will see the light of day here, like it did in SEAUn. That’s why we need you to prevent its enforcement. We need to eradicate this virus of obscurantism spreading across the world.”

Kougami shrugged.

“You’re wasting your time with me. Terrorists justifying their actions with ancient literature are annoying as shit.”

“You’ve also been called a terrorist, back in the days”, Kallal remarked. “And it makes sense. By naming us ‘terrorists’, the authorities validate and justify our repression. After all, the state has the monopoly of the legitimate use of violence, not to quote Weber.” He took his flask back to his pocket. “We’re not really different you and me, contrary to what you might think.”

“But unlike you, I haven’t killed innocent people to serve my cause.”

“Existing in a System that has monitored our entire existences is not a life worth living. Whereas fighting an oppressive system is an end in itself. And I know someone who’d agree with me.”

“Really? And who’s that, a pleasant friend of yours? Your little mate Tesfin?”

“Someone you actually now. A young girl you met during your journey in West Asia. She goes by the name of Tenjin.”

A silence followed the revelation of the Trump card Kallal was holding up his sleeve.

“So what, you’re recruiting child soldiers now?", Kougami calmly said even though his nails dug into his palms, making his knuckles turn milk white. "Could your standards be lower?”

“That’s very hypocritical coming from you. You’re the one who abandoned her, remember?”

The ropes against the prisoner’s ribcage tightened even more against his skin.

“What do you want from me?” Kougami finally asked. “Training? From what I saw tonight, you don’t seem to need any combat advice from me.”

Kallal clasped his hands behind his neck, satisfied of his interlocutor’s sudden interest in the discussion.

“I’m not after your military skills, although I must admit, they’re pretty convincing”, he declared. “What I’m fascinated about is your own persona. See, we need a power figure to guide, to inspire people to join us into this fight. And you could be the leader that our battle is seriously lacking. You could be the one to guide us to the fall of the Sibyl System.”

“Well, if your rebellion doesn’t attract as many people as you’d wish, maybe you should rethink your primary purposes. People join causes they take to heart. Not because of a somehow charismatic leader.”

“I’m afraid History has proven you wrong. How many movements have been joined, if not for their personages behind?”

“The only names that come to mind aren’t exactly great examples of personality cult”, Kougami reverted.

“But that doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, people are willing to join strong and influential commanders, such as you could be, whatever the cause. All they need is a trigger. Because they need someone to identify to. And it seems like you’ve got the ability to draw people around you, to animate their minds and souls. It’s like a magnetic experience. I wish you’d be able to meet yourself to understand what I’m saying.”

He made a short break.

“But I think that deep down, you know. You know how you can affect people. And that magnificent power of yours scares the hell out of you. I bet you’re afraid it could hurt the ones you care for.”

“I already got that earlier, mind you”, Kougami curtly said. “But I think I'd rather hear it from her", he added with a softer voice. "I’m sure that the words she used were sweeter than the ones you just had”, he finished, his gaze drifting away.

“Oh, so there’s a _she_?”, Kallal said, smacking his lips. “Exciting. But not the young woman with you, isn’t it? Who then? A girl from Japan?”

Kougami didn’t answer, ignoring the mercenary’s stare.

“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden. Come on. What's her name? Did you also leave her behind like you did with Tenjin?”

“Shut up.”

“Giving up on her, without saying goodbye?”, Kallal pressed. “Because it’s easier to think that she hates you rather than she’s in pain?”

Kougami remained silent, teeth and hands clenched. Kallal decided to change his line of attack.

“Well, I cannot force you to cooperate”, he honeyedly said, faking capitulation. “I guess we shall carry our fight without you. Good thing I've got Tenjin, though. Because if you won’t help, she definitely will.”

Kougami’s face darkened.

“Where is she now?” he said with a low voice, so low that Kallal had to bend forward to catch his words.

“She’s on her way to eradicate the very top vermin of this country. She’s gonna kill the Chancellor. Once this corrupted piece of shit will be eliminated, the true Revolution shall begin.”

Kougami furrowed his brows, his mouth slightly opening, as a beast ready to pounce.

“How is she gonna kill him?”, he uttered, his voice distorted with anger. “I guess the Chancellor is not a man one can easily get close to.”

“We have informants in his administration. Remains from when I was a mercenary working for the high society”, Kallal said, standing up. “And it appears that man has quite devious sexual preferences, in addition to being an oppressor.” He drew his sabre, turning around his back to Kougami, and executed a few lithe moves. “From what I heard, he especially likes underaged girls.”

“You bastard.”

Kallal turned to face the prisoner.

“Once again, I don’t have any lesson to learn from you. When Tenjin came to me, she was a lost soul. Everything I’ve done for the past years was in order to protect her. I raised her as if she was my child.”

“By pimping her out? What a great dad you make.”

Kallal’s blade brushed Kougami’s right cheekbone, almost tearing the skin up, before slowly drifting onto his chest, and then sliding underneath the ropes that hindered him.

“If you wanna help her, help _us_ ”, he whispered. “Kill the Chancellor so she doesn’t have to do it herself." He slightly pressed onto his handle, puncturing the prisoner's flesh with the tip of his weapon. "Be the trigger that rally people to our fight.”

Kougami’s eyes sharpened behind the curtain of his mane, as he understood what trap Kallal had set from the very beginning, his heartbeats racing against the iced steel of the sword.

“Alright, I’ll do it”, he finally conceded. “Leave her alone and I’ll kill that man for you.”

The mercenary had a gloating smile. He twisted his wrist in a precise move, as if his sabre was an extension of his arm, and the ropes fell onto the ground.

“I’m glad we have a deal.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me if there are any mistakes, I'm not a native... still hope you like it! :)


End file.
